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***April*** · 08-08-2006, 07:07 PM

it's the perseid meteor shower on the 12...and 13th! I have watched this one for years and it's truly amazing! It's a rate of 80 per hour which is more then one a minute! If you've never watched it....try and be a night owl this weekend.....you won't regret it! It's a great show! :)

Calculon · 08-08-2006, 10:43 PM

Cool i will be sure to check it out. Thanks for the heads up.

tsoldrin · 08-08-2006, 10:55 PM

Will this actually be visible to the naked eye, and in the u.s. ??

***April*** · 08-09-2006, 01:16 AM

OMG...it's awesome! I requested the following day off of work like 2 months ago, just cuz it's so great! Cross your fingers for clear nights! like non stop shooting stars all night long! If your in the city, it would be worth it to drive out to the burbs just for better light.....or should i say less light!

don't forget now!:rolleyes::)

08-09-2006, 02:05 AM

How many years in between occurances of this?

***April*** · 08-09-2006, 03:30 AM

this is just one of the 11 or so yearly showers.....
others are normally just not as exciting....like having a rate of 10 an hour....

***April*** · 08-12-2006, 02:20 PM

last reminder....

don't forget now! :)

waxzy · 08-12-2006, 08:44 PM

thanks for the reminder;)

***Shinobi*** · 08-12-2006, 10:42 PM

Hey little more information please lol:)
I would love to catch something like this
where should one be watching (I know the Sky is the obvious answer lol)
but where abouts can people see this event happening,occuring?
Its the 12th here now in U.K..will I be able to see this spectacular
event?
Hi all btw:)

Cycle of Eternity · 08-12-2006, 10:52 PM

yeh i am in Colorado...would i be able to see this? because i never got to see one.
i always miss them, and i love space and the sky...i gotta see this.

harflimon · 08-13-2006, 03:45 AM

Here's a good article on the topic at hand:

http://www.discover.com/issues/aug-06/depa...eteors20things/

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Meteors
The Perseids may be a washout this year, but that's no excuse to ignore valuable news about X-ray slaps, the Tears of St. Lawrence, and the fiddly meteor/meteoroid/asteroid/meteorite distinction.
By LeeAundra Temescu
DISCOVER Vol. 27 No. 08 | August 2006 | Space

1 The most famous and spectacular meteor shower, the annual Perseids, will peak on August 12th. Sadly, the show will be a virtual washout this year because a near-full moon will flood the sky with light. Consider this list your consolation prize.

2 The Perseids are also called the "Tears of Saint Lawrence" after a martyred Christian deacon whom the Romans burned to death on an outdoor iron stove in A.D. 258. Before dying, he was said to have cried out: "I am already roasted on one side. If thou wouldst have me well cooked, it is time to turn me on the other."

3 Technically, a meteor (from the Greek meteoron, meaning "phenomenon in the sky") is merely the streak of light we see trailing a meteoroid. A meteoroid is any interplanetary object bigger than a speck of dust and smaller than an asteroid.

4 Once it hits Earth, a meteoroid suffers an identity crisis and becomes a meteorite.

5 Chase that, Superman: Perseid meteoroids enter the atmosphere at approximately 130,000 miles per hour.

6 Meteorites contain the oldest known rocks in the solar system, as well as pre-solar grains, minerals that formed around other stars perhaps billions of years before our solar system was born.

7 To protect it from the estimated 100,000 meteoroids that will slam into it during its expected 20-year life span, the International Space Station is covered with a foot-thick blanket of Kevlar, the material used to make bulletproof vests.

8 Each day, up to 4 billion meteoroids fall to Earth.

9 Don't worry. Most of them are minuscule in size.

10 Meteorite impacts have been blamed for hundreds of injuries, but only one has been verified by scientists. In 1954, Annie Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama, was struck by an eight-pound meteorite that crashed though her roof and bounced off a radio into her hip while she was napping.

11 A study published in 1985 in the journal Nature calculated the rate of impacts to humans as .0055 per year, or one event every 180 years. Thanks to Annie Hodges, odds are that the rest of us are safe through the end of this century.

12 Maybe that's why President Clinton canceled Clementine II, a spacecraft designed to defend Earth against incoming meteoroids, asteroids, and comets, a.k.a. Near Earth Objects. Or the probe may have fallen prey to the giggle factor, the tendency of government officials to snicker at the perils posed by flying rocks.

13 One way of deflecting a Near Earth Object is to explode a nuclear device in its vicinity. The resulting radiation pulse would vaporize the object's surface; as the vapor streamed away, it would deliver a thrust that could throw the body off course. This push is known as an X-ray slap.

14 A 30-foot-wide meteoroid that struck the atmosphere over Antarctica in 2004 left 2 million pounds of dust in its wakeenough to seed rain clouds and affect the climate on the other side of the planet.

15 To communicate over long distances, NATO and the National Weather Service still bounce radio signals off the ionized trails left by meteors when they enter Earth's atmosphere.

16 If you find a meteorite, the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society demands that you donate 20 percent or 20 grams, whichever is smaller, to a laboratory for future research. You can sell the rest.

17 Unless you found it in South Africa, where all meteorites are protected under the National Heritage Law and must be surrendered to the nearest authorities.

18 Of the more than 24,000 meteorites known to have landed on Earth, only 34 are thought to have originated on Mars. Most of these have been found in Antarctica and North Africa because they are easy to spot on sand dunes and ice.

19 Martian meteorites can sell for $500 a gram. Space rocks fetch just $2 a gram.

20 To buy one, try eBay, which often lists more than 1,000 meteorites for auction. Or call Steven Spielberg, one of the most avid collectors (along with Sheik Saud bin Mohammed al-Thani of Qatar).

OWN-the-NWO · 08-13-2006, 04:56 AM

thanks! I'll check it out

harflimon · 08-13-2006, 09:46 AM

Anyone see any good ones? I saw about 10-15 small ones, but there was the one big one that made my night. It was spectacular light up the sky for about two seconds. Turned from a dull red-orangish to a vibrant light blue and finally burned out in a white flare. It was awesome. Left a streak of smoke behind it for miles that stayed around for a few seconds.

That was the high point of the night from what I saw. Couldn't ask for a better night for it. Crystal clear skies where I am. Not very many lights when you live in a little town like I do so that wasn't a problem. Moon didn't make that much of a problem either.

***Shinobi*** · 08-16-2006, 02:02 AM

I didnt see shit,the only stars I saw that night were the ones in my head
100% drunk on absinthe.. but hey,this was all in a good cause !
I kid you not....:)

blove8. · 08-16-2006, 03:27 AM

I caught this one for my first time on accident about 7 years ago. I went hot springing in Idaho and low and behold, meteors fell all night long. We lost count there were so many. It was awesome!!!

This past winter I caught the Geminids shower on my way through eastern Montana and western N. Dakota last December... Very cool, many really super bright ones and that night there was a big bright moon, clear skies, and snow on the ground. Amazing.:D