Eta Aquariids- 7-9th May, 2014.

[Suzy]

Woohooooo it's that time of year again! :D

I had so much fun with this shower last year. Despite light pollution, I nabbed 10 within 90 mins & 5 of them were really bright ones. So I was a happy astro chick wrapped up in my blanket. :D

The highlight though would've been as dawn was breaking through, when my next door neighbour woke up, and not realising I was on the otherside of the fence, came out of the house and let out an almighty f**t (*raspberry sound* if you didn't get it) :eyepop:. I just about fell off my banana lounge in both horror and laughter:help::lol:. Now there would've been a classic moment for me to yell something across and embarrass him good & proper but I was too red faced :lol:. Ahhhh don't you just love astronomy when no one knows you're there! :astron:

Our fellow IceInspacer- Astroblogger, Ian Musgrave has done a great article on how to see it plus viewing tips.
http://astroblogger.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/eta-aquariid-meteor-shower-7-9-may-2014.html

So, who's up for it? The moon will be out the way, so it should be good, weather prevailing, tho a bit nippy brrrrr :cold:.

Clear skies & enjoy :D woot woot!

[Reemul]

I was outside 3:30-4, saw 2. What time you observe?

[Suzy]

3am is a good time to start observing as most meteors will be seen during the hours of pre-dawn. :)

Tonight - or should I say the morning of the 7th should be better as it's closer to the peak which is today- 6th at 17:00 AEST.

[astroron]

I am up for it tonight,weather permitting. :D
I will have my thermals and winter woolies on. :cold::cold:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Suzy]

Good on you Ron :thumbsup:
I just looked outside- 6pm now and some clouds, but I will remain optimistic!

[Draco]

Hey Suzy.

Went outside at 4am, in the cold, stayed out till 5am and only managed to see 2 .. very disappointed indeed :(

According to Ian Musgrave, the showers will be here from 7 - 9 May so will try tomorrow morning as well.

Will start at 3am tomorrow ?

[Pinwheel]

This eastern view is out my bedroom window & straight down the driveway. Will it be higher or lower in the sky for Victoria ?:shrug:

[Draco]

Hey Doug

The radiant will be from Aquarius, which is abit higher than Venus in the morning. I would presume the view will not be too different from Sydney.

Here is Ian's post. Seems like it will be better tomorrow morning.. I will be out at 3am !
http://astroblogger.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/eta-aquariid-meteor-shower-7-9-may-2014.html

[Weekes]

I went out to a lookout by the ocean at 2:30, seen almost 50 zip past by 4:30! Definitely going out again tonight :)

[Monstar]

Set the alarm for 3:30 looked out to cloud coverage and went back to bed (I was up larte last night so it didn't take much). So they will be back tonight and tomorrow morning same place? At twilight yesterday arvo I saw one quick flash at approx NEE, could that have been one?

I'd like to watch as have never seen one.

[ZeroID]

Low level fog here this morning ..... I think they are bouncing off the top of it ... :sadeyes:

[Pinwheel]

Thank's Draco I'll set the clock & have a look. How many are free eyeballing verses wide field telescope viewers?

[Draco]

Matt, so envious that you got to see heaps more :( Well done

[Weekes]

I just lay on the grass with my eyeballs and every blanket I could gather up! I found that if I looked under Sagittarius and focused on my peripherals I caught more zipping around ;)

[astroron]

Suzy,Our optimism didn't pay off. :sadeyes:
But will try again tomorrow morning:D
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Octane]

Was nothing but clouds up Caloundra way last when I got home from work last night. I didn't feel too bad seeing nothing but cloud when I was waiting for the bus at 7 this morning!

My gear is still in transit from Canberra to the Sunshine Coast. Thursday it is being delivered. That will be 2 weeks. Absolutely disgraceful service.

I do have my Polarie with me and will ask the wife if I can borrow her camera for the night. :)

H

[Suzy]

It was wall to wall cloud this morning here in Brisbane and it doesn't look much better for tonight :(. But I will try again :).

Matt got 50??? Oh good grief I am so jealous! :eyepop:
Well done!

H, I hope all your gear arrives safely- that sure is an awfully long time & no doubt a stressful one :sadeyes:. Now that you're up in Queensland, I hope to catch up with you at Ron's place in the not too distant future :).

Johnny, yes they will still be active tonight. Perhaps not as many because we've just passed the peak, but you never know!

Ron, sometimes I think I'm too optimistic for my own good :lol:.

[Weekes]

I feel so lucky now :lol: Is everyone just experiencing unfortunate weather, or too close to the city lights? I wish I could send some out your way guys :P

[Pinwheel]

I went out this morning at 3.00am & had clear skies. Beautiful milky way too! Anyway I saw only 5 in 30 minutes. Sadly it wasn't worth the effort. I went back to bed with my electric blanket on two..BRRRREZZ cold outside!

[Draco]

Hi Doug

I woke up around 3am as well, looked out the window, decided to go back to bed :( From the experience I had yesterday morning, didn't feel like standing out in the cold again for an hour for a measly 2 meteors.

Had it been a comet, I would have definitely camped out ;)

[ZeroID]

Rain .... <ZZZZZzzzzzzzzz>

[Pinwheel]

I only went out so you wouldn't look bad...:rofl:Also one of my sheep crept up on me & scared the sh$t out of me!!:eyepop:

[Draco]

lol Doug you are a comedian :D

Good on the sheep .. bet it saw more of the meteor shower than me ;)

[Dibbadobba]

Didn't really get out as I've been doing very early shifts and need sleep. But saw a beauty last night at approx 9pm. Streaked across and disintegrated aswell. Was only outside for 10min so happy I saw 1!

[Pinwheel]

Yeh! but do they know what there looking at....they might think the sky is falling...:screwy:

[Suzy]

I got zilch- across all three nights it was very cloudy :mad2:.

According to reports that I've been reading, this year's shower was quite a weak one.

[Suzy]

Ah sheeesh, some people get all the luck!
Well done Frank, I'm a bit jealous.

Doug, funny sheep story :lol:.