Perseid Meteor Shower Winding Down - What's Next?

The Perseid Meteor showers a quickly winding down, and these showers did not disappoint.  I was able to get out and view the skies for a couple of hours and was able to log a couple of sightings despite the poor view conditions at my location.  There was a lot of haze and a few clouds.

So, what's next if you are itching to get out and view some more meteors?  Well the Orionids are coming up on October 21st and October 22nd.  A full moon is expected on during the main viewing nights, so expect a lot of interference from moonlight.  Still, even with a full moon, you may get to see a few brighter shooting stars if you head out a few hours before twilight on the 19th.

The next shower after the Orionids are the Leonids in November.  Occasionally these showers put on a real show, and there moon will be in a waxing gibbous phase.  There should be fairly good viewing conditions for this meteor shower.  Get out on the night of November 17th to get the best chance to see a shooting star.

Perseid Meteor Showers Live and on Camera with Meteor Radars

NASA has set up a webcam that focuses on the sky to view shooting stars.  An interesting aspect of this sky camera is that you are also given an audio feed to the sky radar, where you can hear the pings and pops created by incoming meteors.

You can view the camera, along with audio here.

The camera is mounted at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.

Another camera can be view at SpaceWeather.com, which is located in Walker, GA.  It can be accessed here.  Once the page comes up, click on the main image to see the live meteor feed.

So, if you cannot make out to look at the sky for the big meteor shower, then simply tune in to one of these all sky cameras to look for fireballs.

The Best Meteor Showers for 2010

The prospects for a good year of meteor shower viewing for 2010 are somewhat low. Many of the best meteor showers for 2010 appear at a near full moon. Moonlight can hamper the dark sky viewing needed for catching good meteor showers.

Here are my thoughts on the best meteor showers to view for 2010. The criteria for making this list are based on cold vs. warm season, the number of meteors per hour, and the amount of moonlight. This is basically just my opinion, others may have a different opinion

The best meteor shower for 2010 will arguably be the Perseid's. The Perseid's peak on August 13th, smack dab in the middle of summer for the northern hemisphere. These showers also occur just a few nights after a new moon, which falls on August 10th. Usually, around 100 meteors per hour are visible at the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.

The next best shower to view will probably be the Leonid meteor shower of November. There will be a near full moon for this years Leonid meteor shower. The reason I picked the Leonid meteor shower in my number two slot is because of the shear numbers of meteors that may show up per hour may reach a 100 or more.

The Leonid meteor showers are also known for their 33 year peak display. Every 33 years 100's or of meteors per hour may occur for a short time during the peak. These are known as meteor storms. Sadly, the next peak is not due until 2033 or 2034.

Next on my list are the October Draconids. Although one can only expect about 10 or so meteors per hour with the Draconids, there will be a new moon this year.

Other than these three meteor showers, the rest seem to occur during nearly a full moon. Thus viewing will be difficult.

Perseid Meteor Shower Report 2009

This year's Perseid Meteor Shower was a bust for me this year. We had several lines of thunderstorms move over us last night and the sky was blotted out by clouds. It was cloudy with light rain falling for most of the night. There was plenty of lightning around so we got a fireworks show of sorts.

If you happened to be one of the unlucky ones under cloud cover last night, there still is a chance to get out in the night skies to see a few stray shooting stars over the next few days. The earth is still passing through debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle for a few more days. In my location, there is a chance that skies will clear enough tonight get out for some viewing.

In addition, there are always a chance at catching the other ongoing meteor showers. These are the the Delta Aquarids and Kappa Cygnids. The meteors associated with this shower track across the sky more slowly than Perseid's and travel in different directions, from their respective constellations. They are not as active as Perseid showers but are readily seen with patient sky watching.

Active Perseid Meteor Shower Possible for 2009

Look for the Perseid Meteor Shower to be a little more active during the late evening of August 11th and the early morning hours of August 12th. NASA is predicting that the earth will pass through a dense cloud of comet dust a little after midnight Pacific time or 9 or 10 PM east coast time. During this time frame, the Perseid's could peak with twice their normal intensity.

The Perseid's are one of my favorite showers to view. This is because usually during the summer months there is nice mild nighttime weather. This is one of the better shower to view because you can expect to see 100 hundred or more meteors per minute.

Since the comet dust is particularly dense this year, there is a chance that a much higher rate, or even an outburst will be observed. Hopefully, we will a have clear skies!

Best places to observe the event will be from an area away from city lights. Be sure to bring some insect repellent along.

Summer Meteor Showers

Warm muggy nights, open fields, dark skies, and large blankets on the grass - These are the best way to enjoy summertime meteor showers and UFO searches. I have spent many nights and hours under dark skies of summer. I have seen many meteors, auroras, comets, planets. Even saw the Goodyear blimp that I mistook for a UFO for a minute. But never an object that I could not identify!

Below is a schedule of some of the larger meteor showers that occur during the summer time months. For most of these showers, you will need to check on moonrise and moonset times since it will have at least a quarter of its disk showing. Some darker skies will be available later in the year. Also, do not forget to bring along some bug spray!

Lyrids

June 14-16

Delta Aquarids

July 28-29

Capricornids

July 29-30

Perseids

August 12-13

And in the fall...

Draconids

October 8-9

Orinids will offer one of the best chances for dark skies for 2009...

Orionids

October 21-22

September Persieds Fireball Outburst

SpaceWeather.com reports that there was a fireball outburst early on the morning of September 9th. These fireballs were visible across most of the eastern seaboard. Here in West Virginia, we had fireworks in the sky of a different sort. There were pretty hefty thunderstorms passing through. I was awoken at 5 am by several claps of thunder and heavy rain.

Skies have cleared a little bit tonight, thus I will head out and see if there is a chance for catching any more of these fireballs. Their rate of appearance is not very frequent, so one must be very patient.