gaa_ian
12-08-2015, 12:48 PM
Had to share this from my NightSkySecrets Facebook page, where it went Viral (5000+ views!)
I did three radio interview and a newspaper story on this yesterday !
It's come around to that time of the year for one of my favourite meteor showers, The Perseid's.
Peaking between the 12th and 14th of Aug, with the predicted peak on the 13th (Thursday). This is one of the most impressive showers of the year for those of us in far northern Australia.
Perseid's are entering the atmosphere at 58km/second (others are faster) so the brighter ones can last a second or two ! Some will even be "Fireballs" and leave a brief "smoke train"
In the predawn hours look to the North & for the Cairns region about 10Deg above the horizon. They are the result of the passage of the comet Swift-Tuttle giving us up to 60 meteors an hour. Given almost 1/2 of them will be below the northern horizon we don't see the full 80/hr !
Dress warm and find a safe location with a clear northern horizon for best viewing.
PS: Saw several bright Perseids this morning, looking forward to tomorrow
I did three radio interview and a newspaper story on this yesterday !
It's come around to that time of the year for one of my favourite meteor showers, The Perseid's.
Peaking between the 12th and 14th of Aug, with the predicted peak on the 13th (Thursday). This is one of the most impressive showers of the year for those of us in far northern Australia.
Perseid's are entering the atmosphere at 58km/second (others are faster) so the brighter ones can last a second or two ! Some will even be "Fireballs" and leave a brief "smoke train"
In the predawn hours look to the North & for the Cairns region about 10Deg above the horizon. They are the result of the passage of the comet Swift-Tuttle giving us up to 60 meteors an hour. Given almost 1/2 of them will be below the northern horizon we don't see the full 80/hr !
Dress warm and find a safe location with a clear northern horizon for best viewing.
PS: Saw several bright Perseids this morning, looking forward to tomorrow