This shyte is supposed to peak tonight. It's going to be a heavy trip y0.

In all seriousness, it's supposed to reach maximum intensity at 7am on August 12th. I'm probably going to go out at like 4am or so to see if I can see that shit if I'm awake. Some meteor showers are fizzles, but others are quite intense. We'll see.

8/11/2008 9:15:56 PM

I saw a meteor in Montana that burned through the sky for a good few seconds showering sparks behind it and glowing quite large and bright.

All of the other ones I've seen my whole life were just a quick *pshew* drawing a thin white arc through the sky.

If I was somewhere with a bit less light polution I'd like to check it out but the reality is I'm going to pass out soon anyway.

8/11/2008 9:21:55 PM

just went outside, I think I might have seen one, but it was faint

I'll keep checking as it gets later

what area of the sky?

8/11/2008 9:26:44 PM

vercast

8/11/2008 9:27:39 PM

would the observation deck at RDU be a decent place to watch it? or is it way too bright out there?

apparently there have been meteor viewing parties out at Jordan Lake in the past

I really want to see this

8/11/2008 9:34:36 PM

Yeah the Morehead Planetarium (And yes, it's in Chapel Hill ) hosts skywatching sessions at Jordan Lake.

That's the best area to see it, I may ride out there early in the morning.

RDU is probably overly lit up, but I'm not sure. You've really got to get away from the light pollution to see lots of meteors because most probably wont be really bright. If anybody wants to venture out somewhere at 4am just let me know, I'll be around.

Also, it should be all over the sky. I'd just look straight up while laying on your back, that allows you to survey the sky. Also note that at night you will probably see them best with your peripheral vision which uses mostly rods rather than the very center of your visual field where you have lots of cones. Hence it's best to just look straight up and you'll pick them up pretty easily.

[Edited on August 11, 2008 at 9:42 PM. Reason : ]

8/11/2008 9:37:53 PM

I was outside just now for about 10 minutes

I was about to give up when I see one out of the corner of my eye

for some dumb reason, I decided I'd make a wish

right after I finish, another huge one from the same direction comes

those were the only two meteors I've seen tonight

they were in the SE sky, so I'm assuming that's where the shower is taking place

8/12/2008 12:49:10 AM

we're in boone and the conditions are absolutely PERFECT

clearest skies i've seen here in the 2 months i've lived here

we're pretty pumped

8/12/2008 12:52:12 AM

how much have you seen so far?

and was I right about SE sky? I'm kinda looking straight up so I missed the first one (just caught a glimpse)

8/12/2008 12:53:02 AM

we're waiting until 1:30ish to go out and we're planning on watching it til 4ish, i'll be sure to report back

8/12/2008 12:56:33 AM

i laid out in the middle of the street one night it was like 10 degrees and saw a whole lot of nothing

8/12/2008 1:09:35 AM

I didn't know about this until I just saw the thread. I heard a plane earlier, looked up and saw the most red meteorite I've ever seen falling for a good two seconds. Thought it was dumb luck until now.

8/12/2008 1:13:58 AM

shit!

I'm going back out I think

wish I had a friend around here to go with

oh well

8/12/2008 1:15:07 AM

k I did not see anything

8/12/2008 1:55:27 AM

saw over 20 in 35 min on the pier at lake raleigh in centennial

pretty cool, its clear out too

8/12/2008 2:11:13 AM

went outside for about 10 mins and didnt see anything - its WAY too cold out there for me tonite

8/12/2008 2:27:09 AM

didn't see a damn thing when I just went out

8/12/2008 2:39:46 AM

About 30 min. ago I was driving down 40 from Greensboro back to Raleigh and saw one, it was pretty cool.

8/12/2008 2:46:06 AM

Too bad you guys aren't seeing anything...

I put the D40 on the tripod and did a bunch of long exposures -- here's what I've got so far. The first 3 shots are Perseid meteors, the last 2 pictures are some planes or satellites I managed to get in the shot.



Perseid:





Perseid:





Perseid:





Plane (?)





2 Planes (?)


[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 2:48 AM. Reason : ]

8/12/2008 2:47:25 AM

Basically, the moon was supposed to have set at about 2am, so that should clear up the sky.

Rates of one to two per minute were predicted from what I saw.

Apparently earlier on most were a certain type of meteor (I forget the name) that skips across the atmosphere and tends to be brighter and more colorful but would occur at perhaps as little as one or two per hour. Those should be over and the peak activity should occur from now until sunrise.

The less background light the better, it's hard to see anything but the brightest ones if you're in an area with light pollution. You've also got to stay out long enough for your night vision to really take hold to catch the less potent ones.

[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 2:51 AM. Reason : ]

8/12/2008 2:50:14 AM

I have a very clear sky where I am, I just didn't see anything

of course that was just a random sampling

8/12/2008 2:50:54 AM

I'm currently at Emerald Isle with perfectly clear skies, but unfortunately lots of people around here have left their porch lights on and there's a bunch of light pollution (see the last shot I posted).

8/12/2008 2:51:37 AM

Yeah I can see it reflecting in that last one.

8/12/2008 2:52:11 AM

went out again

still nothing

I'll be happy with the first and only two I saw I guess

8/12/2008 3:02:03 AM

Yeah I'm going to go out in a few minutes to a place a short distance from here.

Note that your night vision can take 20 minutes to acquire and a lot of these may be small and not particularly bright. Also, I don't know if you're looking straight up or not, but that's the best way to do it. The center of your visual field is worthless for this kind of stuff due to the massive concentration of cones.

8/12/2008 3:08:25 AM

we probably saw about 25-30 in the hour or so of watching

the biggest one we saw was when we got out there at 1:30, it was BY FAR the biggest i have ever seen, it lit up most of the sky

it was pretty fun but its cold as shit out there and i'm drained

8/12/2008 3:12:33 AM

Nice!

8/12/2008 3:13:51 AM

I guess I'd have to stay out there a long time

it gets too lonely by yourself lol

8/12/2008 3:17:55 AM

Haha, yeah I know what you mean. That's why I'm waiting until about 4am, then I'll go out there for a while and then the sun will rise and I'll go get food.

8/12/2008 3:19:25 AM

Eh, it isn't that cold outside...now that I've charged the battery a bit for the camera I'm headed back out there. I'll report in later.

8/12/2008 3:19:30 AM

Sounds good. I'm interested to see more pics.

8/12/2008 3:23:50 AM

I got a lounge chair one time with my cat and we sat together and watched a meteor shower

this was many years ago

8/12/2008 3:25:19 AM

^^^ i'm in boone and its about 49 out there right now

8/12/2008 3:27:01 AM

I'm about to go outside and see if I see anything...

8/12/2008 3:37:46 AM

I bet you won't if you have my luck

8/12/2008 3:45:36 AM

Ok, I'm going to see what's up out there now.

8/12/2008 3:56:48 AM

report back with results

8/12/2008 4:01:26 AM

i was basically inside a light bulb, but still managed to see one puny guy

8/12/2008 4:01:54 AM

saw about 4 or 5 nice sized streaks go down. very bright, but they were gone within 2 seconds.

8/12/2008 4:14:01 AM

they're awesome out here...one good thing about living outside the city.

8/12/2008 4:19:26 AM

I worked on the first Perseid shot I posted to help bring out the meteor a bit -- here's the result, 100% resolution. Not bad for "point at the sky and hope you get something" photography.

It's amazing how many stars your camera can see on a long exposure. Speaking of which, time to check the camera again...

8/12/2008 4:30:55 AM

I was on the bridge over Lake Johnson from 1:00-3:00 and saw some good stuff. Nothing too exciting but the best viewing of a meteor shower I've had in my days.

8/12/2008 4:31:31 AM

Alright it's almost 5am and I'm exhausted. Unfortunately none of the pics I just took have any meteors in them. They were either outside the viewing range of the lens, or too dim for the camera to pick them up. AND, it never failed -- whenever I was viewing a previous shot or moving the camera, a nice bright meteor went by.


I did manage to get another plane, and I believe I got a shot of all the sky rotating around Polaris. Unfortunately I believe the CCD on my camera was warming up a bit during this shot (7.5 minute exposure) so you can see that translated on the image.




[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 4:50 AM. Reason : ]

8/12/2008 4:49:51 AM

I just got back, it was good in terms of meteor action. The ones I saw were very bright and were so intense that they left a "hot spot" (Of what I assume was ionized atmosphere) behind them. The path they followed would glow and then slowly dim. I don't think this was a mental thing (Like seeing "trails"), because the weaker ones didn't do this noticeably.

I also saw two satellites pass over. They weren't aircraft because the light was constant, no blinking.

[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 5:01 AM. Reason : ]

8/12/2008 5:00:09 AM

Btw, you should look up the Ring Nebula, with long exposure and a slight bit of magnification you can actually photograph it from the ground. I've never tried it, but you could look into how it's done, on a night like tonight it would have been possible if the sky was properly oriented. I saw a presentation on it, but I can't remember the equipment the guy used. It was nothing incredibly fancy though.

Check out this photo of the Ring Nebula (It's the green/blue dude in the center):



[Edited on August 12, 2008 at 5:06 AM. Reason : ]

8/12/2008 5:03:49 AM

think i could see anything now that its bright out?

8/12/2008 6:28:12 AM

Not unless it's a beastly meteor.

8/12/2008 7:27:30 AM