Perseid Meteor Shower 2008

[martinastro]

From NASA...

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/22jul_perseiddawn.htm

Sky cleared up here last night and I got to see some very good meteor activity. Seen 6 meteors within 5 min's of which two were Perseids. One was a 1st mag object burning up near Jupiter and illuminating the fog around it.

[Roman White]

Wow! 6 meteors during 5 minutes!  Very good activity!

I see that ZHR will be possible up to 100, that means 1-2 per minute! 

[Paul]

Well spotted Martin! The Perseids aren't likely to be so good this year as the Moon isn't favourable at the peak - the good news is that the Perseid peak is actually quite flat so we should get opportunities anytime from now until almost the end of August.

I shall post my favourite Perseid shot here - this was in the 2004 season when I was still using film - this was frame 1 of 37 and was the only one that was any good!

[brianb]

this was frame 1 of 37 and was the only one that was any good!

Very nice - I like the way the colour varies along the track.

There might still be an advantage in using film for meteors - the reciprocity failure means good capture of rapid moving objects but poor capture of sky fog!

The Perseids aren't likely to be so good this year as the Moon isn't favourable at the peak

Actually not too bad - because the Moon is well South of the ecliptic it sets around midnight even up to the 11th, the pre-dawn period will have next to no interference.

Martin - I was up till 2am last night waiting for the sky to clear, no sign - looked out again at 4am when it was getting light and the sky was just beginning to clear

[John9929]

Ahhhh I remember it well Paul, isn't that the one that made front page SW?

[Steveo74]

Sounds like you had a good night Martin, did you get any images?

Great capture Paul! on film too!!!! 

[Paul]

Yes John, that was indeed my first appearance on SW.com - you sent it in as I remember!

[martinastro]

Very nice Perseid capture Paul. The colour transition and position within Cassiopeia as it 'spears' Gamma makes for quite an image! 

Brian, must have been our typical localized weather last night again. I was clear and dark here but low level fog was a pain and destroyed any attempt at Boattini. I seen no NLC activity either. The meteors looked great though. I'm very tempted to do some early camera patrols in the hope of catching a good one. The fog last night looked amazing as it seemed to 'blow' across the fields (it was calm) in an unearthly manner.

I didn't get any images Steven but I did do a watch visually.

I expect the Perseids to be good this year so I am crossing my fingers for clear skies. What happened to the days (not that long ago) in which a riend and I watched the Perseids all night long for 3 nights in a row centred on maxium and see tons of fireballs and giant explosions of lightning in a completely clear sky at the same time?. I would like to see a view like that again!

[dogstar]

Thanks fort that Martin great shot Paul a stroke through the W nice capture i cant wait to see this years shots.

[Roman White]

That is an unique shot, Paul. I had never seen before such variety of colours in the meteor trail!