A big meteor shower can be happening this evening. If you want to see the Perseids 2010 annual meteor shower, it will begin August 13th within the evening. The moon can be disappeared during the Perseids meteor shower 2010. From midnight to dawn, meteor watchers who venture out beyond city lights should be able to observe up to 75 meteors an hour coming out of the northeast sky. You don’t even need to get a telescope.
Meteor watch for Perseids 2010
The big meteor shower tonight known as the Perseids 2010 is the grand finale during a classic night of summer stargazing. NASA reports the show begins at sundown when Venus, Saturn, Mars and the crescent Moon materialize above the western horizon clustered together in a “tight conjunction.”. At 10 p.m., these planets will all fall together below the horizon marking the official start of Perseids 2010. From 10 p.m. until dawn, meteors appearing to emanate from the Perseus constellation will streak across the sky. The sky will get darker and Perseus will go higher within the sky before meteors start coming down at a faster rate. One meteor a minute will be seen Friday morning when it is the darkest right before dawn if you are looking to meteor watch.
Suggestions for meteor watching
To get the most enjoyment from the big meteor shower tonight, Alan Boyle at MSNBC offers some meteor watching tips. Get out of town from city light pollution where the sky is wide open and dark. Find some place that is at a higher elevation. If you’d like to, it is always a good idea to lie on top of a car against your windshields although you’ll need to bring something like a blanket to make this more comfortable. Stay warm with the clothes you wear. Bring some tunes. Get there in enough time that your eyes can adjust to the dark and look up. The Perseids 2010 won’t get really good until after midnight. Just before dawn is when the peak of the show will happen.
Tips on meteor photography
The big meteor shower tonight is a fantastic photo op. Tips are given on photography from Pop Photo. Long-exposures and wide-open apertures mean city lights will creep into the frame and overpower the image. Bring a cable release — keeping your finger off the shutter button will prevent blurred images. Make an effort to avoid getting light streaks in the picture by putting something in the foreground. A wide, fast lens could be the best for you if you are able to get a good ISO and exposure time. Just keep taking pictures.
Why Perseids 2010 is going to be so amazing
Perseids 2010 is happening since the Swift-Tuttle comet is something Earth is just passing through again. 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. The dust stream the comet has gets thicker each time is passes Earth. The dust stream Swift-Tuttle has left behind is denser than usual, and Earth will pass through that.
Discover more info on this subject
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
