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Re: Perseids meteor shower tonight!



Dan and others:
I was in the mountains above Ogden, Utah, last Monday evening (9
Aug), and spent just a few minutes meteor watching about 11:00 pm. I
thought it might be a little ahead of the Perseid shower time, but in
about 5-10 minutes was able to see 4 or 5 meteors, at least three of
which were coming from the northeast and probably part of the Perseid
shower group. The sky was very dark, all the stars of the Little
Dipper were clearly visible, and the Milky Way was brilliant. This
should certainly be a great year to see the Perseid shower.
Rondo Jeffery
Weber State University
Ogden, UT
(From the state of Utah, which experienced its first-ever fatality
from a tornado yesterday, when two thunderstorms suddenly turned in to
a tornado that roared through downtown Salt Lake City.)


<<< "Daniel L. MacIsaac" <Dan.MacIsaac@NAU.EDU> 8/12 8:31a >>>
Perseids Meteor shower arrives tonight!

QUOTE gleefully cut-and-paste-ripped-off from Sky&Telescope
online:

Perseids (Aug. 8-15). This best-known meteor shower has a broad
peak, and it occurs at a pleasant time of the year for Northern
Hemisphere observers. With the Moon near new and out of the sky all
night, 1999 should be a great year for the Perseids. In recent years
there have been two peaks about a half day apart. The morning of
August 13, 1999, should be the best time to watch, but rates should
remain high for a day or two on either side. A single observer may see
50 to 100 meteors per hour under dark, rural skies in the hours before
dawn. Rates in the evening are much lower. Suburbanites may expect
closer to 25 to 40 meteors per hour even during the peak predawn
hours. Brief outbursts sometimes enhance these rates greatly.

ENDQUOTE from

http://www.skypub.com/sights/meteors/meteors.shtml

Way too much more info on the Perseids, meteor-watching etc is
available from S&T at the above site.

Get out and meteor watch Weds and Thurs night; anytime it's dark (20
mins to fully adapt eyes) you should see some falling stars. Best
brightness is after midnight, but this is not critical.

Dan M

Dan MacIsaac, Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Northern
AZ Univ
danmac@nau.edu http://purcell.phy.nau.edu PHYS-L list
owner