Tonight is going to be a huge meteor shower. The Perseids 2010 is an annual event that builds to a crescendo in the wee hours of Friday, Aug. 13. The Perseids in 2010 can be better than average because there can be no moon within the sky during the peak of activity. The northeast sky is where you need to look from midnight to dawn to discover 75 meteors each and every hour. You don’t even have to get a telescope.
Now there is the Perseids 2010 meteor watch
Perseids 2010 is a huge end to a wonderful summer full of stargazing and will be happening tonight. Venus, Saturn, Mars and the moon can be shown together on the western horizon as a “tight conjunction” at sundown as outlined by NASA. When the planets fall below the horizon about 10 p.m. the Perseids 2010 start. If you want to know where you need to be looking at 10 p.m. for the meteors to start raining, try looking at the Perseus constellation. The sky will get darker and Perseus will go higher in the sky before meteors start coming down at a faster rate. If you are hoping you’ll be able to meteor watch and want to know the best time, well then right before dawn on Friday morning there could be one meteor a minute coming down.
A few tips for watching meteors
To get one of the most enjoyment from the big meteor shower tonight, Alan Boyle at MSNBC offers some meteor watching tips. Get away from the light pollution causing the sky to be lit up all night in the cities. Find some place that is at a higher elevation. You’ll need something to keep you warm and to lie on while being on your car up against windshields. Stay warm with the clothes you wear. Music is a good idea too. Looking straight up to the sky with eyes that have adjusted to the dark is a great idea too. The Perseids 2010 won’t get really good until after midnight. The meteor show’s peak could be happening right before the sun rises.
Tips on meteor photography
If wanting to take pictures, the meteor shower tonight is a good place to do it. Get some tips from Pop Photo on how to get a good photo. Don’t use long-exposures or wide-open apertures because lights from the city could mean the image is ruined. Use a cable release, and prevent the images from getting blurred by putting a finger on the shutter button. Try to stay away from getting light streaks in the picture by putting something within the foreground. A wide, fast lens can be the best for you if you can get a good ISO and exposure time. Take pictures as fast as you can.
Why Perseids 2010 is going to be so amazing
Whenever the earth goes through the dust cloud that is called the Swift-Tuttle comet, Perseids 2010 happens. The Christian Science Monitor reports the Swift-Tuttle comet swings around the sun once every 135 years, spewing dust and gas as it nears the sun and heats up. The comet’s last pass was in 1992. Each pass of the comet slowly thickens the dust stream it leaves behind. The dust stream Swift-Tuttle has left behind is denser than usual, and Earth will pass through that.
NASA
science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/05aug_perseids/” href=”http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/05aug_perseids/
MSNBC
cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/08/11/4869749-see-and-hear-the-meteor-show
Pop Photo
popphoto.com/features/how/2010/08/how-photographing-perseid-meteor-shower
Christian Science Monitor
csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0812/Meteor-shower-August-2010-how-you-can-get-the-best-view
