Joined: Mar '12
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 53 (M)
Posts: 153
The skies above Britain will be the scene of a celestial fireworks show tonight as part of an annual meteor shower. Perfect weather conditions mean that many will be able to see the Perseid shower in all its glory. The cosmic phenomenon occurs every August when the Earth passes through a swarm of dusty particles from the Swift-Tuttle comet. No bigger than a grain of sand, the particles burn up as they hit the atmosphere, producing trails of light that shoot across the sky. It is expected to peak at around 11pm and continue through the night. Those in the countryside will have a clear sight of the shower, but even those in cities affected by light-pollution will be treated to as many as 10 meteors an hour. For those who want to get the most spectacular views Stonehenge in Wiltshire and Mam Tor in the Peak District near Sheffield are the places to be. Cloudy skies could obstruct the view for people in northern Scotland and eastern parts of England though. Jo Burgon, of the National Trust , said: "Seeing stars in their full splendour, shining bright in the sky above you, is one of the unofficial wonders of the natural world. "The intrusive glow of street lighting or a bright moon can be detrimental to a good meteor experience. "But with a good weather forecast, this year's Perseids display could be a cracker, and not one to be missed." The Royal Astronomical Society and British Astronomical Association will use Twitter to produce an online "meteor map" to show where the most meteors are being seen. "Meteorwatch is the perfect opportunity for astronomers and non-astronomersnalike to come together to experience this wonder of our Solar System," said organiser and amateur astronomer Adrian West. "We hope that thousands of people will get outside and look up this week."
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
That'd be really great to observe! I used to see a lot of meteors and watch the sky a lot at night when I lived in Arizona. It's such alarge open area and at night generally a beautiful sight to look at the planets through the telescope. Hope your able to take such observations to heart because there's so many that don't. There's a whole other world one can get lost in when they're up through the night watching the stars and wonders that cross one's mind.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Australia
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 6483
Posted by windy88: i will take alook here in Ireland to see if i can spot this
Ireland should be fine - quite a lot of the world can see this actually - unfortunately Australia is a bit of an exception, only the Northern end of Aus (not me) can really see much and even for them, it's right on the horizon
Joined: Mar '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 1646
Posted by madpoker: The skies above Britain will be the scene of a celestial fireworks show tonight
not with all that cloud it wasnt. friday night was the best here for it. only seen 3 tho. one was a nice fireball that split into 3 before it died, left a nice trail too hoping its a bit clearer tonight. not expecting to see ten an hour tho.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Australia
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 6483
The actual comet passes by on a 130 year orbit, so the further it get's each year from the last pass-by, the less spectacular is is.. Every 130 years when it we're closest to the orbit, it's apparently incredibly spectacular. all through history there's there's been illustrations and writings of the event - and of course the actual comet itself slowly shrinks, so each 130 year orbit is less impressive than the last.
hoping its a bit clearer tonight. not expecting to see ten an hour tho.
