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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Anchorage Perseids 2012

It's been clear so Anchorage folks should be able to see the Perseids tonight. (I just checked outside and clear is gone.)  I've been trying to see if our western location means we can see them a little earlier.  Or which direction to be looking from here. 

Space.com says:
If you watch one meteor shower all year, then catch the overnight Perseid shooting star display tonight.
This weekend, the annual Perseid meteor shower peaks, sending hundreds of shooting stars flying through the night sky in what many experts call the best shower of the year.
"We expect to see meteor rates as high as a hundred per hour," Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office said in a statement. "The Perseids always put on a good show."
 They also say to look to the Northeast sky (there's a diagram on their site.)

NASA has a chat you can join (It's not obvious to me how it works, but there is a comment box.)  They also have a livestream, except it doesn't seem to be streaming. 

I'm going out to check.  It's not completely dark out and it looks like there are clouds covering the sky anyway.  And it was so sunny and clear most of the afternoon and evening.  Oh well. 

Here's a 2009 report.
at

3 comments:

  1. WakeUpAmericaSunday, August 12, 2012 at 9:14:00 AM AKDT

    Our desert night sky has consistently brilliant views of the stars. Wouldn't you know that a cloud cover blew in last night.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Barbara CarlsonMonday, August 13, 2012 at 3:13:00 AM AKDT

    Too bad. But.
    One year during this display, my husband and I got up at 3 or 4 AM and drove into the countryside south of Ottawa. I'm glad we did this, but the show was underwhelming. Even at "100 an hour", that is maybe 2 a minute, but unless you are looking in the right direction, you'll miss them and, then, in the dark and damp AM, it is a long time till the next one...

    But I carp, I'm sure somewhere it is raining stars like the illustrations always promise. I guess I'm bitter cause in my long-ish life I've only seen -- maybe -- 10. Wrong place, wrong time...?

    Anybody else out there see more than one at a time?

    Same with earthquakes. Born and raised in So. California, I had to come live in Ottawa, Canada before I felt one on our 22nd floor: the whole 25 story highrise swayed 1 inch, back and forth for 26 seconds (I counted). I had to hang on to the door frame. The floor, even many minutes afterward, when I jumped on it, felt fluid. Building withstood it all, elevators included. Building codes ruled.

    My husband -- out in nearly woods, painting -- said the tree leave "shivered" and the ground rumbled.

    (Sorry for the digression.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Barbara CarlsonMonday, August 13, 2012 at 3:15:00 AM AKDT

    ...that should be leaves. And "nearby". O dear. O well.

    ReplyDelete

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