🚀 go-pugleaf

More details on observing the Perseids meteor shower, and on the best time
to watch, below.


Quoting from the Friday, August 6 1993 San Francisco Chronicle :

	_New Dust to Light Up Meteor Show_,
	by David Periman, Chronical Science Writer

	Perseid time is coming again, and as it does each year, a shower
	of meteors formed from the dust of an ancient comet should streak
	across the sky all night long, all next week to delight patient
	star-watchers.

	But besides the display of shooting stars, which many scientists
	believe may be more spectacular than usual [ see below - rc ], this
	year's meteor shower is unusual because nearly 2,500 amateur radio
	operators around the country will be bouncing their signals off
	the blazing tails of the meteors in an attempt to achieve record
	distances for their transmissions.

	"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us", because of the
	expected intensity of the shower, said Russ Bentson of Belmont,
	an electrical engineer who has been talking to fellow amateurs
	with his single-sideband ham outfit for more than 30 years. About
	50 other Bay Area amateurs will be making the same attempt, Benston
	said.

	His normal range for transmitting signals in the two-meter band,
	he said, is about 400 miles. But by reflecting his transmissions
	off the ionized debris that trails behind the Perseid meteors,
	Bentson expects to chat with radio friends as far as 2,000 miles
	away for the first time. He and his colleagues will be broadcasting
	at a frequency of 144.2 megahertz, for those who want to tune in.
	"The Perseids are not only a visual treat," he said, "but they're
	an electronic wonder."

	The meteors, which arrive on schedule every August, get their name
	because they seem to rain down from the constellation Perseus.

	But precisely when the shower will reach its peak - probably some
	time Wednesday night - is impossible to predict, said Andrew Fraknoi
	of the Foothill College Astronomy Program, also executive director
	of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

	[ Those of you acquainted with the Bay Area astronomical scene will
	  probably better remember him as the germinator of Sidewalk Astro-
	  -nomers, whom built their own telescopes out of wildly painted
	  cardboard tubes discarded by carpet stores, and hand-ground their
	  lenses, then delivered them to unexpected locations for people to
	  be given the opportunity of seeing the sun or the moon in vivid
	  detail - bringing astronomy, as it were, to the streets. ]

	The Perseids are not really stars, but debris from a comet named
	Swift-Tuttle that ... [returns] every 130 years. The comet came
	close to the sun in 1862 and made another close pass last year -
	adding a fresh rivulet of particles to the debris cloud each time.

	[ snip, snip ]

	The meteors should begin appearing as occasional flashes in the dark
	sky Monday or Tuesday night, Fraknoi said, and after peaking Wednes-
	-day, they should continue in a diminishing shower Thursday.

	[ snip ]

	The best way to watch for the Perseids, Fraknoi said, is to find a
	high hill away from background city lights and where plenty of sky
	is visible, wait for the eyes to become dark-adapted, then scan as
	much of the sky as is possible in every direction, without binoc-
	-ulars or telescopes.

< end of article >


I'd like to second what Mssr Fraknoi says about binoculars not being needed.
Any sort of visual instrument will inevitably narrow your vision, and allow
you to observe that much less of an already vast perspective. It's just
another heavy thing you'll have to lug along and worry about forgetting.

One ( or more ) sleeping bags and a ground sheet and some food and drink
would be advised, however. Also, a flashlight with a red lense, if you can
swing it - bright light disturbs dark-adjusted eyes.

As it so happens, meteors are sufficiently brilliant that, in a very dark
place, you stand some good chance of seeing them even through peripheral
vision, as well as when they happen right in front of your eyes. They are
very small, very bright, and very fast - they cannot help but stand out
against a dark and relatively unchanging sky.	(-:

You might even see this in the middle of the city, if you have a clear sky
and a relatively dark roof to lie down upon.

According to _Quirks And Quarks_ ( heard on KALW 91.7 FM, SF ), there are
three predicted 'best' times for viewing ( although such predictions should
be taken with a degree of uncertainty, since no one can really say where on
the planet they will arrive ... just when ) are as follows :

	Wednesday 10 PM EST		7 PM PST ( California time )
	Thursday 8 AM EST		5 AM PST ( California time )
	Thursday 11 AM EST		8 AM PST ( California time )

The University of Texas' excellent astronomical show ( which I don't recall
the name of, but have heard, through its many incarnations, on public radio,
and seen postings from the illustrious Debbie Byrd, right here on the Net,
usually in sci.astro ) notes that the moon will be rising around midnight,
as of this evening ( Monday, today ) ... so the best viewing, if any, will
probably be Wednesday evening.

_Quirks And Quarks_ notes that the meteors appear to emanate from the
northwest, so any hills you choose should look in that direction.

Enjoy !!


-- richard

-- 
 |                                                                            |
 |        "A cloak is no longer a cloak if it does not keep one warm."        |
 |                                                                            |
 | richard childers                                         pascal@netcom.com |