It was bright and clear here, Sharon, the moon was bright enough that it compromised some of the less bright meteors, but I saw about a dozen in 20 minutes or less.
I was canning beans at about 2 am, so I went and sat on the porch and watched the meteors until it was time to take the last jars out of the canner. It was very nice...
Oh how I would love to see this but light pollution and overcast weather makes it nearly impossible around here.
I do remember seeing a comet (Hale Bopp??) a few years ago. It was magnificent and I was awe-struck.
I treasure those few times when I have been able to see a sky full of stars, such as when I was at some national parks or once on a boat off the Florida Keys. Astounding.
We have a family friend who is an astronaut! He told us what it was like to look at Earth from above. Imagine seeing something like that. He said it was gorgeous, although you could see the pollution over the big cities.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. We've been overcast these past couple nights, but tonight may be a good one for watching.
Embarassed to say I never knew much about these "regularly scheduled" showers until DD did a science project on them in junior high. Can't believe I missed seeing them for so many years - It's truly awe inspiring. Natural fireworks!
It's overcast here also, but I did see them a few years ago from Marina Beach, where I met some internet friends for a party on the beach late at night, and it was a new moon. For some reason, it was very clear that night, and because we were at the beach, we had a lot less light pollution and could see the meteors streaking across the sky over the ocean. Today, it would be better to be a Joshua Tree National Park, but it's pretty hot in the desert in August.
I may well be overcast much of the night tonight but I'm going to give it a go. Yes, Lars, it's hot in the dessert in August but I always try to catch the Perseid showers because the Leonid showers I always freeze my butt off watching them in the middle of winter.
Hey, Pam, come visit me. About 5 miles from my house there's a "viewing station" set up by Michigan State University. It's way out in the middle of a field and after much discussion of many sites was used because it didn't have any light pollution. At times when it's open to the public, it's amazing.
I usually go camping during this week, precisely so I can lie on the beach at Lake Michigan and watch the Perseids. This year life has interfered and I haven't even been camping. Sigh. Schedule a visit for next August and we'll spend the night on the beach!
The Perseids are still pretty nice in my backyard, though.
The first one last night startled me a bit as it was very bright and fast. I noticed others and figured out it was the Perseids shower. Not much light pollution as I'm not only in Michigan but the "thumb" which is stuck out into Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron. No lights at all from the lake and the lack of population keeps smaller sources down. If I stand on the north side of my garage there are no yard lights in sight so my eyes can adjust to the moonlight. Friends from the city have remarked they have never seen the Milky Way before which appears as a band on light splitting the sky. Of course the constellation Lyra from which my screen name came from is there. After I took the screen name I learned it is the source of an ancient explosion so powerful modern science can't explain what made that big of a boom. Some legends claim Lyra is the home system of the humanoid races that later populated much of the galaxy including our system. LOL!... we might all be Lyrians. Peace bro...
You were lucky Annie and others who saw something but we had overcast sky both nights so I didn't see anything, even though I sat outside for a while hoping the sky would clear.
The best time I remember was one summer in Canada at my brother's house on a lake. We took a couple of friends and went out in the motor boat to the middle of the lake, turned off the engine and lay on our backs in pitch blackness and silence watching the meteorite show. It was so memorable that the friend from Germany who came with us in the boat sent me an email last evening saying that night spent in the middle of the lake was a high point in his life.
annie1992
dedtired
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