From Meteor Watching 101: Tips and terms
Meteor Watching Tips
> The part of Earth where dawn is breaking is always at the leading edge of our planet’s plunge along its orbital path around the Sun. This part of the planet tends to “catch” oncoming meteors left by a comet, whereas the other side of Earth, where it is dusk or late evening, outruns the debris. For that reason, the hours between midnight and dawn are typically the best time to watch a meteor shower.
> Allow time for your eyes to adjust to darkness. A good hour is smart, so that you can also practice some prior to prime observing time.
> Dress warmer than you think you need to, especially in winter.
> Bring a lounge chair or blanket, so you can relax and look up with ease.
> During meteor showers, shooting stars appear to emanate from a point in the sky called the radiant. There are different ideas about how to use this fact to aid in spotting meteors. Robert Lunsford has these thoughts:
One idea is that it is preferable to look away from the radiant so that the shower meteors you see will be longer and therefore easy to detect motion. As Mark Davis stated one should look 20-40 degrees distant. At this distance the radiant is still in your field of view so that shower association is still fairly easy.
Those who look directly at the radiant can see shower activity travel in any direction. Shower association will be fairly obvious. Meteors that appear near the radiant will be foreshortened and therefore the motion will be more difficult to detect.
I would suggest that new observers face slightly away from the radiant. Those who enjoy good perception over a large field of view may be able to directly face the radiant with no problems. Those who prefer to face the radiant must not do so unless the radiant is at least 50 degrees high in the sky. If you don’t then you are wasting the bottom portion of your field of view on the ground!
Apparently the best time for viewing in our area is around August 11-12, between midnight and dawn. Anyone want to go stargazing with me?
On the downside of life we were beaten severely at the game last night. The team we played was the first team to make us lose, back in the beginning of summer, and I hate their false advertising: they call themselves the Drunken Idiots when they most certainly are not. Argh. Mostly bad plays and several innings where we just hit to their players. Unless the ball was hit to left field, in which they had a stunning outfielder who covered all of left field and could do it, catching every long ball that went even remotely left. Argh. I did make it home once, but only batted four times. Almost caught a really high ball but I plead sun and general ineptness. I put my head down. Bah. Did make a really nice grounder bounce catch for an out at second, and a couple of pitcher/shortstop plays to second, but yeah. Not so hot out there, we were.
On the upside, grilling tonight! Friends over tonight! Harry’s is a good place to eat at even when you’ve lost! Softball players like the Moonlight Ramble too! I actually have root beer and vanilla ice cream for a root beer float! Score!
Enough exclaimation points for you?