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Viewer's guide to meteor showers: Sit back and enjoy the show
Viewer's guide to meteor showers
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Frank
Aug 13 2012 at 10:24 AM
Sorry that first link didn't really work...: http://davewirth.blogspot.com/2011/11/star-pictures.html
It's amazing how much the stars rotate in the sky at night.
Frank
Aug 13 2012 at 10:22 AM
Here's how you can take really cool pictures of meteor showers or just the stars in the night sky.http://davewirth.blogspot.com/2011/11/star-pictures.html
If you have a basic Canon Camera you can use this software, it's totally free and easy to use: http://davewirth.blogspot.com/2011/09/chdk.html
herb
Aug 12 2012 at 1:33 PM
i live in melbourne, florida i went outside about 10:30 pm and stayed outside until midnight. by then cloud cover prevented me from even seeing the stars. i will try again tonight
Guest
Aug 12 2012 at 10:56 PM
I am hoping it clears up I live close to u :D i did the same thing last night crossing my fingers tonight
nankaymac
Aug 12 2012 at 11:53 AM
I am in Auburn, Ca. cloudless skies, no city lights except far away Sacramento and went out at about 10 stayed til 2. Probably saw about 200, all colors, sizes, train lengths. Spectacular.
Are these possible in heavily polluted cities, say LA?
Tarrant
Aug 12 2012 at 9:11 AM
I have a much harder time in Chicago because of the light pollution. I suspect the same of LA unless you travel a bit to a darker area.
Sit back and enjoy the show
The Perseid meteor shower will be at its annual peak this weekend. It is but one consequence of the 100 tons of dust and sand-sized particles that bombard the Earth every day. As the debris travels through the Earth's atmosphere and vaporizes, it provides us with light phenomena known as shooting stars. If the bits and pieces outlast their fiery journey and hit the Earth's surface, they are dubbed meteorites. Pictured here are sculptures as seen under a star-filled sky over Qingdao city, east China's Shandong province.
The best way to catch a meteor shower is to use your naked eyes, as a telescope or binoculars will limit the amount of sky you can see. Pick a dark patch of the sky, but don't focus on one spot. Space.com also offers this handty advice: "Avoid looking at your cellphone or any other light. Both destroy night vision. If you have to look at something on Earth, use a red light."
Here's a look at a few annual meteor showers and what we've learned from them through the years. (Text: Katherine Butler)
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