Tonight is going to be a huge meteor shower. The Perseids 2010 is an annual event that builds to a crescendo in the wee hours of Friday, Aug. 13. This year better than most since the moon won’t be within the sky to distract from the Perseids 2010 meteors. Head out of the city at about midnight and from then until dawn hits, 75 meteors per hour will be seen within the super dark sky. You don’t even have to get a telescope.
Meteor watch for Perseids 2010
Summer stargazing is going to end with a huge shower tonight that is named Perseids 2010. As outlined by NASA, a “tight conjunction” of Venus, Saturn, Mars and also the moon will be shown right at sundown by any who watches. When the planets fall below the horizon about 10 p.m. the Perseids 2010 begin. The Perseus constellation is where the meteors can be falling from at 10 p.m. when the shower begins. As the Perseus constellation rises and the night deepens, meteor rates will increase. For sheer numbers, the best time to meteor watch is during the darkest hours before dawn on Friday morning, when at least one meteor a minute might be seen.
Tips for meteor watching
Tips for watching meteors and enjoying them probably the most are given by Alan Boyle from MSNBC. Find a place far away from light pollution and out of the city where the sky is going to be the darkest for you. The higher the elevation, the better. Bring a blanket or a chaise lounge; lying on the hood of your car propped up against the windshield is also good. Wear something to keep you warm. It will help to get some mood music to play. Give your eyes plenty of time to adjust and look straight up. You won’t be able to see the Perseids 2010 very well until after midnight has hit. Just before dawn is when the peak of the show will happen.
Suggestions for photographing the meteors
The big meteor shower tonight is a fantastic photo op. Get some tips from Pop Photo on how to get a good photo. Don’t use long-exposures or wide-open apertures because lights from the city could mean the image is ruined. Your finger on a shutter button will really help keep the images from being blurred with a cable release. Put something in the foreground so you don’t end up with just a variety of light streaks. Use a wide, fast lens and fiddle until you get the right ISO and exposure time. Just keep taking pictures.
Why Perseids 2010 is a sight to be seen
The Perseids 2010 occur when the Earth passes through the dust cloud of the Swift-Tuttle comet. We only see the Swift-Tuttle comet every 135 years when it gets close to sun so it can heat up and spew dust, reports the Christian Monitor. 1992 was when the comet was last seen. The dust stream the comet has gets thicker every time is passes Earth. The patch of Swift-Tuttle’s dust stream Earth is going through this year is much denser than usual.
NASA
science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/05aug_perseids/” href=”http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/05aug_perseids/
MSNBC
cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/08/11/4869749-see-and-hear-the-meteor-show
Pop Photo
popphoto.com/features/how/2010/08/how-photographing-perseid-meteor-shower
Christian Science Monitor
csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0812/Meteor-shower-August-2010-how-you-can-get-the-best-view
