Perseid meteor shower tonight - already saw a good one
 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ay_in_2009.jpg

Look north-east now, overhead later in the evening.

I've already spotted four without trying too hard, and one of them was really good (bright, lasted a long time & looked like it was sputtering/sparkling as it went).

The peak is supposed to be around 4 AM EST, I think. Just before dawn.

Perseids - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

EDIT: apparently best viewed in the northern hemisphere. With apologies to Aussie & Kiwi members (& others)!

Living closer to the city may mean shorter drives for me, but it complicates amateur astronomy somewhat. I guess I could drive out to the country if it's too bright here. But it's still a couple hours to astronomical twilight here.

Handy link: Sunrise, Sunset Calendars and Local Time

It's quite cloudy here right now. I'll check again before bed. Luckily I got to experience a different kind of light show this morning (also known as massive thunder storm).

Last fall I was able to see a good show from the Leonids. Here is wikipedia's timeline of other notable meteor showers: Meteor shower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Today the Wife and I plan to take our new 130mm telescope to the fields far from the city, hopefully we'll see a few meteors while we're there. I'm just getting into astrophotography, but if any pictures come out at least half-decent then I'll post 'em:)

Please do!

The best one I saw was the one I caught before Post 1.

I went out for about 30 mins after I posted, and saw:

7 meteors
6 airplanes
3 birds
2 satellites
1 bat
(and a partridge in a pear tree!)

Got up again at 4 AM for the supposed peak, but it clouded over within a few minutes (though I saw 3 before that).

Robbie: I missed the last Leonids.

I saw a bunch in the California high desert, mostly smal ones out of the corner of my eye, but a few big ones too. It's a shame there's so much light pollution from Palm Springs and San Bernardino, really makes the case for LED street lighting.

Dumb clouds!
 

So we were supposed to go at 9pm, but at 8:30 the sky was completely overcast, so we called it off. And then each time I looked out outside after 9 the sky was clear! All the way until morning! Lost chance, today we're going to a party, while Sunday and the rest of week is out of the question since we have to get up at 5:50 the next morning:( No luck.

But to cheer you up I'll post a picture I took through the telescope in the beginning of June. It's my best picture so far, though I admit I haven't had time to work on perfecting my skills. There is lots of light pollution, since the picture was taken from the roof of our house around 3am, just before sunrise.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1281761607

Even though this was a relatively short exposure (5 or 10 seconds), the magnification was large enough to register movement. I have yet to find the optimum settings.

I know I am late posting but we layed in the back yard on a blanket. Nearest neighbor was a half mile away.

Saw about a dozen before I woke up in the early morning headed for bed.

We were at our "office" location during the week and didn't make it home that weekend.

I took a course in observational astronomy whilst in undergrad school. I know enough to be almost dangerous. Moon is up tonight.