Perseid Meteor Shower & Comet NEOWISE - anyone looking?

[Brainonska511]

Tried to see it once but saw nothing. I was not disappointed because I knew it was impossible to see from the city. I've seen plenty of pictures of it but they are always from mountain tops. And even then, they say it is nearly impossible to see with the naked eye.

I saw it last night again from a mountainside in the Berkshires - it was kind of faint about 1.5 hours after sunset, but you could definitely see it with the naked eye, and it was becoming more apparent as it got darker. I'd say it was at least as bright as some of the stars in the handle of the Big Dipper. But because it also has a somewhat diffuse look, I can see how light pollution can drown it all out.

I'm tempted to see if I can spot it from my city outside of Boston, but I'm not particularly hopeful

 

[repoman0]

Finally got to see it - it was pretty awesome. We're out in Western Mass for a few days and I went to the hairpin turn near a peak along MA-2. Kind of faint with binoculars and the periodic car killing night sight, but pretty clear with some 8x42 binoculars.

Awesome spot, love that section of route 2. I haven’t seen anything from just north of Boston .. I’m tempted to head out that way as well

 

[Brainonska511]

Awesome spot, love that section of route 2. I haven’t seen anything from just north of Boston .. I’m tempted to head out that way as well

It was definitely a great spot. The only problem was the periodic traffic with blinding lights.

Thankfully we had 2 of 3 nights in North Adams where we could see the night sky.

 

[FaaR]

Looked for it this past night, but as I live in a big city there's too much light pollution, and I could not see it. Had a tiny pair of binoculars with me and they didn't help at all.

Thinking of dragging my old DSLR out of storage and using that one instead tonight, if it's still a clear sky that is. It has a zoom lens that while unspectacular is still significantly better than the binoculars. Otherwise I'll count this as me having seen it because I looked at where it should be - It's not my fault I couldn't tell it apart from the general atmospherical haze!

 

[Spacehead]

Looks like the clouds won't be clearing for tonight here. I'll duck my head out around 10 or so & see if they've broken up. Tomorrow looks to be better.

Heavens above has the magnitude at 4.1 now.

 

[Spacehead]

Went out about 10pm again. Pretty clear with some clouds near the horizon. With a sliver of moon still out i got myself where the trees were blocking it out. I had to wait about 10-15mins before i could see it naked eye with averted vision. It's up higher now but it's definitely not as bright. Nucleus is fuzzier than about a week ago.

Checked out Jupiter too. I could see 3 moons. Saturn, Jupiter & Pluto are all close together now too.
After about half hour i could see the comet naked eye with direct vision. It's definitely fading but i'll try to get out again as much as i can to watch it leave.

 

[BoomerD]

Sat at the beach tonight until 10:30. First night in weeks with a clear sky. Still too much "twilight" to see any more than the brightest stars...so, sitting in one of the local drinking establishments having a beer...will make one more try tonight.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I went out to look on a day off where it was clear and did not see it myself, I assume it's close to big dipper? That's mostly where I looked. I did not drive anywhere though so with streetlights etc it may have been too much ambient light. I've been trying to go to bed early these days otherwise driving out of city at like 1-2am would be best as the sky is at it's darkest then. I might still look at taking some long exposures to see if I pick it up though.

 

[Spacehead]

I went out to look on a day off where it was clear and did not see it myself, I assume it's close to big dipper? That's mostly where I looked.

According to Wikipedia, Timmins is at 48°28 N, 81°20 W so that's what i used. Your sky should look like this at 10pm tonight.


In that image the comet is about 30 degrees up. At midnight it will only be about 15 degrees up.

 

[IronWing]

We’re having the first clear night in a couple weeks and I spotted the comet again. It is quite a bit dimmer than two weeks ago but there is a lot more light pollution here than where I saw it before.

 

[ElFenix]

My little Canon grabbed this.

 

[skyking]

We are going to the beach this weekend. Often there are low clouds, but I am hoping for a chance to grab a picture. Our roomie is letting me use his old DSLR. I will get some practice in here first. I will also track down at least a table top tripod to put on the hood of the truck out on the beach.
Still looking between the big Dipper and horizon?

 

[Spacehead]

Still looking between the big Dipper and horizon?

I don't remember where you're at so i used my location(NWPA) This is for Saturday Aug 8 at 10pm. Longitude won't matter but if you're further South it will be closer to the horizon than in this pic. Farther North, higher.
Arcturus is the bright star at the point of Boötes (Boo). You can locate it from using the handle of the big dipper. If you (sort of)follow the arc of the handle it points to Arcturus.

Heavens Above has NEOWISE listed at magnitude 5.1 now.



Image of Boötes

Don't forget Jupiter & Saturn are in the South too. Jupiter is the brighter one.

Good luck!

I haven't had the chance out get out lately. Between the bright moon & clouds/rain there's been no chance.

 

[Brainonska511]

Don't forget Jupiter & Saturn are in the South too. Jupiter is the brighter one.

This was a nice view last night. Jupiter and Saturn with a waxing moon in the middle.

 

[skyking]

I'll be on the Washington coast.

 

[Spacehead]

I'll be on the Washington coast.

That chart should work for ya then.


The Perseid meteor shower has started & peaks the night of Aug. 12 for those of us in the northern hemisphere.
No instruments needed, just clear skies & as wide open a space as you can get to with as little light pollution as possible. A partial moon will be rising about midnight EDT.

 

[Spacehead]

Comet NEOWISE is still hanging in there. Not too hard to find in my binoculars tonight at magnitude 6.6
Can't say i could see a tail but the nucleus is there. Looks like a faint globular cluster.

Saw 3 really nice Perseids, leaving a long trail behind them. 2 other faint sporadic meteors & a bunch of satellites. Checked out a few other deep sky objects too.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I camped out with my kids last night by the lake. Always have decent stars out there...the moon was too bright and wrecked the view once it came up. There was some lingering storm clouds and then fog in the morning that ruined other chances.

I had a really good morning years ago. 4:30am... They were streaking across the sky. I felt like I was riding space Mountain at Disney World.

 

[sandorski]

It's 2020, you'll poke your eye out looking for meteors....

 

[Spacehead]

Just 1 meteor tonight, Very faint, not sure if it was a Perseid.

Comet moved a little since last night but not much. Looked about the same, like a faint globular.

I wear glasses at times & have them on when looking at the sky. It's amazing how often you see reflections from other light sources.
Anyhow, out of the corner of my eye i see a flash of light. I look but don't see anything. OK, just an odd reflection. Then i see it again & look. OK, there's definitely something there but i don't know what it is. Not seeing a plane or satellite moving. I definitely see something flash about 4 times but it's in a patch of nothing, no bright stars to see if the thing is moving or not.
So as i'm looking for this thing i see a blob of fuzz. Hmmm... looks about like NEOWISE(but in a different part of the sky) but i figure it's a globular. Then i see another not too far from it. It's gotta be 2 globulars. I can't remember whats in that part of the sky(near Ophiuchus).
So i look when i come in. Turns out it was M10 & M12. Damn, i forgot about those. Seemed like NEOWISE looked about like M10 which as i turns out is mag 6.4 & NEOWISE is at 6.6

Never did figure out what that flash was. I'd guess a spinning satellite but who knows.

 

[skyking]

Here we are at the beach, a lovely clear night. Did I remember the binoculars or the DSLR? Oh no, of course not .

 

[Spacehead]

Here we are at the beach, a lovely clear night. Did I remember the binoculars or the DSLR? Oh no, of course not .

Oops!
Hope you had fun anyway.

 

[Spacehead]

Just a reminder that tonight is the peak for the meteor shower. Hoping the clouds part but not looking the greatest for now.

 

[Brainonska511]

Just a reminder that tonight is the peak for the meteor shower. Hoping the clouds part but not looking the greatest for now.

I saw an article yesterday that said the 11th was the peak.

Went to a local park last night and saw a few streak across the sky around 10pm.

 

[Spacehead]

Hmmm... now that i looked at several sites they vary from the night of Aug. 11 to Aug. 13 for 2020, though most seem to say the night of the 11-12.
I first looked at Wikipedia & it has the the peak on the 12th(tonight).

I was just outside... can only see 3-4 stars. Just like last night, nice all day, clouds roll in after dark. I'll try again later.

One nice thing about the Perseids, you can see some really nice meteors close to 2 weeks before & after the peak. Just not as many in one night.