Space geeks will be aware that the Perseids Meteor Shower peaked on the nights of August 11th and 12th. I could NOT miss it so on monday night we drove to a deserted road, away from city lights, put our lawn chairs out and star-gazed. We saw quite a few meteors which was very exciting!! They whiz by extremely fast and peripheral vision is your best friend when you're meteor watching. We were initially afraid we would not be able to see a thing because it had been raining and cloudy just a few hours earlier. Luckily, the sky cleared up just in time!
Apparently a bashful meteor :-P
You can also watch this AMAZING time-lapse video of the meteor shower taken by some talented people. You will not only be able to see the meteors but also a faint Aurora Borealis, some lightening and some clouds.
For those of you who missed it, don't worry! The next meteor shower happens on October 21st. You can check the meteor schedule here.
"Look! Another meteor!"
Some tips on meteor-watching:
1. Make sure the sky isn't cloudy.
2. Take bug spray! Our feet got bitten pretty badly.
3. Drive away from the city lights. Less light = greater visibility
3. Take lawn chairs to sit on outside your car or if you have a truck go ahead and lie down in the back. Whatever it is, be outside!
4. Avoid checking Facebook notifications :-P . I checked it once and I missed a meteor! They go by really fast!
5. Constantly scan a wide portion of the sky. Just because the meteor shower was supposed to happen in the north-east sky does not mean it was limited to just that part! We even saw one towards the south. So keep your eyes wide open and depend on your peripheral vision.
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