Persid Meteor ShowerThe Perseid meteors appear to stream away from their radiant near the border of Perseus and Cassiopeia. And while you're outside on a dark night, don't forget to look for the Double Cluster and the Andromeda Galaxy, two of the easiest "faint fuzzies" to spot with your unaided eye.
Dawn Sunday/Monday
Jupiter's impact scar is the small dark mark in the planet's South Polar Region (top). The black dot on the edge of the South Equatorial Belt is the shadow of Callisto. Note the Great Red Spot just about to rotate out of sight on the celestial west limb (left). Sky & Telescope's Sean Walker used a 14.5-inch reflector for this stacked-video image 8:45 UT July 23, 2009.
This week’s big issue is the Persied meteor shower. The little bits of interplanetary grit making up the Persied meteoroid stream orbit the Sun with a period of about 130 years, like their object of origin, Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The richest part of the stream is strung out near the comet itself, which last dipped through the inner solar system in 1992. So the shower's annual sky show has waned of late —the great Persied meteor displays of the early 1990s are gone.
This year's Persied peak was predicted to come around 18h Universal between 11pm and dawn last night. But there should be still a few around for a few days yet. After 10 pm look to the north east for the radiant, straight down a few degrees from the first star in the Cassiopeia W, an easy constellation to spot, a misshapen W. There’s a diagram on the blog.
The waning Moon is nearly at last quarter. It rises an hour or two after dark and will brighten the sky somewhat during the best Persied-activity hours, from 11 p.m. until dawn. Nevertheless, but this is a pretty reliable shower, and some Perseids should be there for the catching.
If you’re really serious about Meteor watching, I found some instructions on S and T.com. Find a spot with an open view of the sky, wrap up warmly in winter clothes, perhaps an anorak or a sleeping bag, and use mosquito repellent where you're not wrapped. Lie back in a lounge chair and watch whatever part of your sky is darkest. Be patient. You may see a meteor zipping into the upper atmosphere every few minutes on average.
On Friday, Jupiter is at opposition, big and bright. It's opposite the Sun in the sky: rising around sunset, shining highest in the middle of the night, and setting around sunrise. And I’ve put a nice picture of Jupiter’s new black spot up on the blog.
During Sunday’s dawn morning the thin waning crescent Moon hangs with Mars, when early risers can watch the waning crescent Moon pass Mars and then Venus in the dawn. there’s a guide on the blog.
You can still catch Venus blazing away in the dawn sky, with Mars nearby between the horns of Taurus, but bear in mind they’re only horns if you have a vivid imagination or know a horribly misshapen bull.
This year's Persied peak was predicted to come around 18h Universal between 11pm and dawn last night. But there should be still a few around for a few days yet. After 10 pm look to the north east for the radiant, straight down a few degrees from the first star in the Cassiopeia W, an easy constellation to spot, a misshapen W. There’s a diagram on the blog.
The waning Moon is nearly at last quarter. It rises an hour or two after dark and will brighten the sky somewhat during the best Persied-activity hours, from 11 p.m. until dawn. Nevertheless, but this is a pretty reliable shower, and some Perseids should be there for the catching.
If you’re really serious about Meteor watching, I found some instructions on S and T.com. Find a spot with an open view of the sky, wrap up warmly in winter clothes, perhaps an anorak or a sleeping bag, and use mosquito repellent where you're not wrapped. Lie back in a lounge chair and watch whatever part of your sky is darkest. Be patient. You may see a meteor zipping into the upper atmosphere every few minutes on average.
On Friday, Jupiter is at opposition, big and bright. It's opposite the Sun in the sky: rising around sunset, shining highest in the middle of the night, and setting around sunrise. And I’ve put a nice picture of Jupiter’s new black spot up on the blog.
During Sunday’s dawn morning the thin waning crescent Moon hangs with Mars, when early risers can watch the waning crescent Moon pass Mars and then Venus in the dawn. there’s a guide on the blog.
You can still catch Venus blazing away in the dawn sky, with Mars nearby between the horns of Taurus, but bear in mind they’re only horns if you have a vivid imagination or know a horribly misshapen bull.
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