Good place + advice re: viewing Perseid meteor shower tonight
Wendy Bernhardt
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Parkwood Office <pa.o...@parkwoodnc.org>
Date: Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 12:36 PM
Subject: Re: [ParkwoodNC] Meteor shower
To: parkwoodnc <parkw...@googlegroups.com>
http://moreheadplanetarium.org/programs/teen-adult-programs/skywatching
The Perseid is supposed to be spectacular this year.. over 200 meteors per hour. It happens over a period of days, not just tonight.
I have been trying to see it for about a week, but it has been hopelessly cloudy every night. Also need to look after the moon sets if possible because of how much it lights the sky.
Moonset the next few days:
11 set 1:22 AM on 12th
12 set 2:05 AM on 13th
13 set 2:52 on 14th
So tonight after 1:22 am would be the best time to look. Hoping for clear skys!
Some people go to Jordan lake for star gazing and that is probably the closest good place. I may check out the dam at the parkwood lake since the shower start in the due north and the lake points that way.
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From: Matt
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 8:36 PM
To: Cc: michael shiflett <mwshi...@outlook.com>; TrinityPark <Trini...@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: FWre: [TrinityPark] Re: Good place to view Perseid meteor shower?
I'd recommend this great app for the iPhone called Dark Sky Finder https://appsto.re/us/4b2KG.i
The app will overlay a map of light pollution over any place in the world so that you can easily find locations near you with the best viewing conditions. It's $3 but worth it if you like to star gaze.
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To: TrinityPark@yahoogroups.com
From:
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2016 05:27:52 -0400
Subject: [TrinityPark] Re: Good place to view Perseid meteor shower?
Mike reports (below) good viewing conditions for sky phenomena
needing dark skies at our nearby lake areas, and I second his
recommendations, having used areas around Jordan Lake myself for viewing
comets.
A beach chair that you can recline is the most comfortable way to spend time
looking upwards...
I've not been at a lake in the evening recently, so I don't have first-hand
experience of whether insect repellant is needed.
... I watched meteors from the edge of Hillandale golf course during a 1999 (?) meteor outburst. It must have been along Sprunt Ave. off of Hillandale Rd. behind the Durham City water treatment plant. There are no houses, vanishingly little traffic, and is still convenient to get to. I don't know how many more lights have been added nearby since then, although the Durham sky is quite bright in general.
To see the greatest number of meteors you really need to drive away from the city lights. Any farmer's field will be an open space without trees, but find a side road to pull off onto so you won't have a lot of cars' headlights ruining your dark-adapted vision. Expect the concerned local residents have a sheriff's deputy visit you.
If there are patchy clouds, it's still worth going out to look at the meteors, as you can still see meteors in the clear spaces between clouds -- as long as the clouds are not brightly lit by city lights. The later you are out watching, the more meteors there actually are to be seen -- and even more after the Moon has set. If you look at your smart phone, you will destroy your dark-adapted vision, and miss the fainter meteors for many minutes. A reclining beach chair will save your neck... If the anticipated peak in the numbers of meteors happens while you are watching, you are a lucky soul.
Here's a "Clear Sky Chart" I set to Durham: http://www.cleardarksky.com/c/DrhmNCkey.html Hover the squares to see what they mean, and/or click "3." on the left, and scroll down for the color key. Zero-o'clock (at the vertical red line) is midnight on the chart. 13-o'clock is 1 pm, etc. Cloud cover and transparency are the important items for meteor viewing.
On WRAL's web site: http://www.wral.com/ hover: "Weather"& click "Map Center" then click the "Satellite" button to see the current NC cloud cover. Sometimes the "8 Hour" animation button works. It can show whether clouds are arriving or leaving the area. If it's not cloudy, I'd be interested in people posting here how many meteors they saw in a fixed length of time, and where they watched from.
Good luck! - Hal
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2016 6:57 PM
To: Harold Lane <hal...@earthlink.net>; c...@pobox.com; TrinityPark
listserve <trini...@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [TrinityPark] Re: Good place to view Perseid meteor shower?
We've driven out to both Falls Lake and Jordan Lake in different years and
parked near others who set up chairs near the bridges.
Mike