perseid meteor shower

[springgrove]

Hello people that know a lot more than me. I am a complete novice with no equipment.

I have a friend visiting from the states in early august and she has said the meteor shower will be taking place at that time. we will be staying at suffolk park near byron bay for a week.

I have a few questions.

Can we see the shower from Australia?
If so, does anyone know of some great vantage points around the byron/northern rivers area, noting that we don't have any telescopes and will be observing by eye.

Any information would be great, thanks for your time.

Dave.

[dannat]

You don't use anything to observe metoer showers usuaully - it occurs over too wide an area to be viewed with a scope or even binos -

The metoer shower origin is in the constelation Perseus, hence the name - but the meteors can appea over a wide range of the sky

[Rob_K]

Hi Dave! Yep, naked-eye is the only way to view! However the Perseid shower is best viewed from mid-Northern latitudes, and there will be moonlight to interfere with viewing. Here's a link with more information (just scroll down):

http://www.imo.net/calendar/2008#ace

Cheers -

[Blue Skies]

You need to check that the radiant for the shower actually clears your horizon - if it doesn't you're unlikely to see anything. This is why the Perseids are a bit of non-event for most of us here in Australia, unless you live in the far north.

[springgrove]

Gday peoples, thanks for your replies.

Coonabarabran seems to think maybe 3 or 4 an hour on the early morning of august 13th on the northern horizon.

heres hoping for some clear skies and some warm drinks, and maybe a happy ending :)

Dave

[erick]

OK, you need a good sleep beforehand, then some nice comfy chairs you can sit back in, blankets and warm drinks. Then face towards the radiant but look at the sky in a broad arc around it. If dark skies, no cloud or fog and your eyes are dark-adapted for 20 mins plus, you'll see them if they are there. If not you should still see enough exciting sporadic meteors over a few hours, coming from all sorts of directions. :)