I always want to see this meteor shower, annually appearing in mid-August, and this year found myself in the Rocky mountains, far from city lights --but to my disappointment, saw nothing.
Anyone have any better luck?
The peak of the Pleiades shower happens on my birthday; so I’m always watching.
But, from NorthEast Ohio, it was too overcast this year.
I’m kind of glad it was a disappointing year even in clear skies… so I know I didn’t miss much.
1.) The Pleiades is a sub-constellation of small starts inside Taurus the Bull. I’ve seen them plenty of times this year. So, yes, they are visible.
2.) The Perseids are the August meteor shower I think you’re thinking of. It was overcast where I am this year during the peak, so I didn’t see them. But they’re the most prominent metoeor shower in the sky, so my guess is that they were present.
Tell me more about this Pleiades shower. I’ve heard of the Perseids. Aren’t the Pleiades the star cluster in Taurus? Also known as the “Seven Sisters”?
Sorry. I knew Pleiades didn’t look right, thought it was a minor spelling glitch. I should have written “St. Lawrence’s Tears.” Did anyone see them (that’s the same meteor shower as the Perseids)?
I hear about it on the American radio and for some reason I assumed I would not see anything on this side of the Big Blue Marble. In fact, before first prayer the other day I saw the biggest meteor (comet? Whatever) I have ever seen.
Blue and green, with a head that looked like a line.Maybe it was space junk. Very impressive before you’ve had your coffee.
Imagine my dismay. We are in a semi-drought this year. No rain for a LONG time BEFORE the meteor shower. I honestly think it has been cloudy and rainy since we were able to view it in this area. I didn’t get to see much of it at all.
I’ve come to the conclusion that if an area is drought-stricken, there WILL be rain if a meteor shower is scheduled.
Meteor. Comets are big balls of dirty ice that travel through the Solar System. They move very little from one night to the next. Meteors are pretty streaks of light that flash through the sky.
Ain’t a nice big fireball a thing of beauty! This wasn’t part of the Perseid shower, though. Meteor showers are caused by the Earth moving through the debris left by a comet, which is mostly wee bits, the size of a grain of sand or a pea. Fireballs (a.k.a. bolides) are caused by chunks of rock the size of your fist or your head, or, sometimes, as you say, spacejunk.
It doesn’t follow that the fireball is unrelated to the Perseids. Most cometary debris may be wee stuff, but there’s bound to be a size distribution, and the occasional big chunk will cause a fireball.
Yes, I did see the Perseids on the early morning hours of August 12th and August 13th. Saw about 50 per hour, AFTER 2:00 am, local time. The meteor stream is more active when the morning side of Earth meets head on with the stream, that’s why you’ll see more in the early morning pre-dawn hours rather than the evening hours…that’s the side of Earth that’s not facing the stream.
The Perseids radiate from a spot in the sky in the constellation of Perseus. The Pleiades (Seven Sisters) is a closed globular cluster of stars (part of the Taurus constellation) which is roughly 15 degrees south of Perseus.
And yes, I saw the Perseids and the Pleiades simultaneously on those nights.
A chart.
From the site Yeticus linked to:
Doesn’t seem to contradict what I’ve written.
The site said that an object “a few inches” big can become a fireball, if the angle of entry and speed are right. The Perseids are capable of producing fireballs as well as most if not all other meteor showers. Sporadics (a meteor not associated with any known meteor shower) are capable (and more likely) of producing fireballs. Fun stuff, I tell ya.
Yes, you’re right, I should have said “probably.” I guess I was trying to make the point that some people expect a meteor shower to be a big fireworks show, but usually the meteors involved in the shower are not very bright. The really the likelyhood of seeing a fireball, especially a really impressive one, like Paul’s, isn’t much better on the night of a shower than on any other night.
Most people also don’t realize how common meteors are. If you go out to a nice dark location away from city lights and watch the sky for about five minutes, you’ll probably catch a meteor.
I did the night skygazing for about 90 minutes on the Aug. 12 and 13. Though I have an urban sky (too close to Boeing’s wide-body plant in Everett), I was seeing about 1 meteor every 6 minutes. Both for me and on astronomy sites, people were reporting this year’s Perseids to be a bit of a disappointment:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050815.html
Indeed, the first night out I’d spotted 4 satellites crossing the sky before seeing the first flash. And there was only 1 good fireball each night.
But the satellite activity is worth seeing in itself. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I saw my first Irridium flash, a phenomenon in which the low-earth orbit satellites appear to strobe once or twice. And it’s worth noting the schedule for the International Space Station, as it’s incredibly bright and fast-moving. Here’s a good website for satellite activity:
http://www.heavens-above.com/
This little bit of activity is probably going to cost me some money. I’m thinking now about replacing a cheap old 6" reflector with a Meade ETX series telescope.
Best regards,
Mooney252
I’ve seen quite a few Iridium flashes as well (when the mirrors of the Iridium satellite(s) line up to reflect the sun to your vantage point on the ground), and if you watch enough of them (along with knowing the predicted brightness forecasted on the heavens-above site for your EXACT location), then you can better estimate the brightness of a fireball.
The great thing about the H-A site is that it gives you the path projection on the starfield (with tic-marks for time) so you can find and track the satellite before it flashes and watch the progression and regression of the flash. If you are the direct path of a Iridium flash, then the Max magnitude of the flash is around -8…which is roughly about 40 times brighter than Venus near maximum brightness (-4). Pretty cool to watch when you’re actually looking…pretty freaky to see if you just happen to look up at the right time from the right place. At -6 through -8, you should be able to see them during the day as well.
Another thing that was REALLY freaky was that I looking through my binoculars a couple of years ago at the Big Dipper with the star Mizar in view. At first sweep, I noticed that there were more “stars” than I was used to seeing there, and then when I swept back…3 of those “stars” moved…and all 3 “stars” moved in the same direction, at the same speed, and at the same brightness (about mag. +6 or +7). My heart skipped a beat…WTF? I tracked them for a while from the Big Dipper to Leo and southward until they were to dim to track. Did I just see something that wasn’t supposed to happen?
Since they looked like satellites, I went to the H-A site and after an hour of Googling, I found out that they are indeed satellites - “NOSS” satellites (Naval Ocean Surveillance System ). The three satellites accurately triangulate locations of ocean vessel radio communications…hence the need for 3 satellites in a group. I felt a little better once I discovered that. Now they are pretty cool to find and watch as they cross the skies. Try to hunt these down, they don’t disappoint…and maybe have a unknowing friend with you that you can freak-out for a little fun.