Σάββατο 13 Αυγούστου 2011

NASA Chat: Stay 'Up All Night' to Watch the Perseids!

                                                                                                     08.12.11Perseid meteors in the night sky View large image
Perseid meteors in the night sky View large image
Perseid meteor shower View large image

Perseid meteor shower. All images credit/copyright to Michael Menefee. Used with permission, all rights reserved by Michael Menefee.

More Information
Link: All Sky Camera Network
Link: Listen to the Perseids
Link: Worldwide Meteors
Flickr: Perseid Photos
NASA News: Meteors
Wikipedia: Perseids
Editor's note: we're receiving lots of questions ahead of tonight's chat about the best way to view the Perseids from various locations. Below is some viewing advice from Danielle Moser of the Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. In addition, you can view this map to see viewing opportunities for the Perseids. Unless you live in the red shaded area, you will be able to see the shower.

Who can see it: Given clear weather and dark skies, the Perseid meteor shower can be seen by most of the world, though it is best viewed by observers in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Perseid radiant doesn't climb very high above the horizon or isn't visible at all. So Southern Hemisphere observers will see fewer Perseids than their northern counterparts. Places where the Perseid radiant isn't visible include the southern parts of Australia, Africa, and South America, and all of Antarctica.

Where to look: If it's not cloudy, get as far away from bright lights as you can, lay on your back and look up. Put the horizon at the edge of your peripheral vision as you let the sky and stars fill your field of view. Give your eyes some time to adjust to the dark and you should start seeing Perseids. No binoculars or telescopes are necessary!"


About the Chat


Looking for a good reason to enjoy an August evening? This year's Perseid meteor shower peaks TONIGHT -- Friday, Aug. 12 and into tomorrow morning -- Saturday, Aug 13. The Perseids are considered the best meteor shower of the year by many, but with the full moon washing out all but the brightest meteors, rates will probably only be 20-30 per hour at most -- weather permitting. The Perseids rate in the southern hemisphere is quite a bit lower, since the Perseid radiant doesn't climb above the horizon.

Make plans to chat with NASA astronomer Bill Cooke and his team from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center as they answer your questions about the Perseids via live Web chat. Join them on Friday, Aug. 12 at 11 p.m. EDT -- this will be Saturday, Aug. 13 at 03:00 UTC GMT -- then make plans to stay "up all night" until 5:00 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 13. Tips for converting UTC to your local time.


Joining the chat is easy. Simply return to
this chat page a few minutes before 11 p.m. EDT on Friday, Aug. 12. The chat module will appear at the bottom of this page. Simply type your name to join the chat, then we'll start taking your questions at 11 p.m. EDT.

Watch the Perseids! Live Video/Audio Feed


A live video/audio feed of the Perseid shower is embedded below. The camera is mounted at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. During the day, you'll see a dark gray box -- the camera is light-activated and will turn on at dusk each evening. At night you'll see white points, or stars, on a black background.
You can also access these links to more all sky cameras to have other views of the sky.

Before the camera activates, you can still hear the audio of meteors passing through the sky, creating blips, pings and whistles. The meteors themselves don't make sounds, but they ionize the air around them as they burn up. These ionized air molecules reflect radio waves back to our antenna.

You can also watch throughout the night and
see a Perseid fireball composite "grow" as new Perseids are added to a composite image, courtesy of ELP Allsky in El Paso, Texas. Live streaming by Ustream

More About the Perseids


The Perseids have been observed for at least 2,000 years and are associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years. Each year in August, the Earth passes through a cloud of the comet's debris. These bits of ice and dust -- most over 1,000 years old -- burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. The Perseids can be seen all over the sky, but the best viewing opportunities will be across the northern hemisphere. Those with sharp eyes will see that the meteors appear to radiate from the direction of the constellation Perseus.

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