PSA: Perseid meteor shower tonight...

[Earth_First]

Eyes to the skies this evening, folks as the annual Perseid meteor shower begins it's peak over the next 24-36 hours.

Best vewing times are after 2 a.m. through dawn looking in a North-by-Northeast direction away from high impact lights.

Grab some coffee and a friend/loved one and check it out, meteors are expected to be in the 60-100 per hour!

Enjoy!

[obxhead]

1. Cloudy here.

Hoping it clears a bit before I go to bed tonight.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Cloudy here too. Not likely to clear. :^(

[Earth_First]

3. Ya never know...

Last night it was expected to be overcast, and it cleared up after 3 a.m. for a few hours; enough to view about 50 meteors.

Tonight was looking like a wash for us again, and it's cleared up nicely.

Good luck!

[obxhead]

9. Actually just went out to take a look.

I can see a few stars, but there is still a haze out here in central VA.

I've been looking forward to the show for a month now too. This year should be a great show with less interference from the moon than the last 5 years.

Fingers crossed that the clouds keep pushing off to the east.

[Lizzie Poppet]

18. Clear here...in Portland, Oregon!

Yay! More often than not, I don't get to see the Perseids here.

[nc4bo]

8. Nothing but clouds :( nt

[ileus]

4. We just come in a few minutes ago...

Saw about 5 so far, going to head back out with the kids in an hour or so. It's been a long day last thing I want to do is stare at the sky. LOL

[obxhead]

11. Take a blanket out

and lay down in the grass. Makes it a much better experience. After your eyes adjust to the darkness in 10 to 15 minutes you'll catch a lot more of them and should get quite a good showing compared to the last 5 years.

[Brickbat]

5. Meteors are 60-100 per hour under ideal conditions. The average suburban viewer will see about half

that -- which is still worth heading out to check!

[Curmudgeoness]

6. And as always seems to happen

at this time of year when the Perseid arrives, it is overcast.

[rsmith6621]

7. 2 AM PST or EST???

[obxhead]

12. 2 AM your time.

It's actually an event that goes on for 10 to 14 days. Tonight (a 24 to 36 hour period) is the peak of the shower. 2 AM just happens to be the time it's darkest so you can catch more of them.

Happy viewing.

[progressoid]

13. I think 2 AM your local time. Here's a video.

[chknltl]

14. Goldie Hawn to the rescue:

http://www.maniacworld.com/time-zones-explained.html

[chknltl]

10. thanks knr

[JoePhilly]

15. If you are in the burbs, we found that the school's football or baseball fields are pretty good.

You need to pick a school that's not is a high density area, but schools have parking, and the area around the field usually has few trees. So you can get a wider view.

I'm kind of surprised schools don't do a camp out event for it.

My daughter and I did it last year (won't do it tonight, too cloudy) ... and we saw lots of meteors. About 1 a minute or so.

[a la izquierda]

16. And, of course, it's cloudy here in central Ohio.

I'm all geared up, too. I took a long nap, and I've been working on a deadline all damn day.

Friggin' lame.

[HillWilliam]

17. I'm about 20 miles south of Danville, VA

in the middle of nowhere. Just about ideal viewing conditions, except we've been having wave after wave of showers all day. The rain, we sorely need but it makes for sucky viewing. Every time there has been some kind of astronomical event this year we've had obscuration, even if it was a thick haze. Last year it was a near-full moon and mid-week arrival.

Even though I'm disappointed I probably won't get to see the Perseids this year, I'm glad for the rain and the break in the heat. I'm gonna get up after while and peek out anyway JIC.

[BlueToTheBone]

19. Clear skies and my first accidental sighting.

Thanks for the heads up!

[JesterCS]

20. was out for about 30 minutes and saw 5 or 6. at around 11pm EST. some nice bright red ones as well.

[ManiacJoe]

21. I-90 exit 93 east of Seattle

Between Cle Elum and Ellensburg, there is a nice dark stretch of sky. Perfectly clear was a small moon.

I was there from 2:00-4:30. 6 of 77 pics had a faint meteor. Saw a few large bright ones, but the camera was never pointed in the correct direction for those. Certainly did not get the 60-100 per hour.