According to the cognoscenti's orbital models of the meteoroid-dust stream—leftovers from Comet Swift-Tuttle—this year’s shower will peak about 17 h UT on the 12th of August (S&T August 2005, p. 65). That's midday for us, but even if we’re not in the best geographic location, meteor viewing should be fine on both Thursday the 11th's and Friday the 12th’s evenings and mornings. It's best to just think of this dual opportunity as insurance against clouds and hazy skies on either night. Even better, the Perseids have a broad plateau in activity, so that nights either side of the peak should provide plenty of shooting stars as well.

Unless you’re attempting to count and estimate brightness for scientific purposes, meteor showers are best enjoyed as a group activity. Our Delmarva Star Gazers club is organizing an event—see details elsewhere in this newsletter and join in. Or consider inviting friends and neighbors over for your own gathering, maybe a dessert (say, moon pie and chocolate meteorite cake?) and meteor party. Choose a dark, open location and watch the darkest part of the sky from a comfortable reclining chair or sleeping bag. Look up and enjoy the show together until it’s time to go home.

Although my guests would no doubt be entertained by fumbling in the dark with a camera, I’ve never had much luck in the past documenting a shower photographically (S&T August 1993, p. 97). It seems that meteors avoid any part of the sky where I’ve aim my camera, and I usually only end up with a wasted, meteor-free roll of film. But with a digital camera, cost is not an issue. Since the set-up is simple and the shutter triggers remotely, I can look-up and enjoy the show along with my fellow meteor gazers. The tedious, but bug-free part happens later on the computer: aligning and combining frames could result in a knock-you-socks-off shot. So I’ll give that a try.

Again this year, I’ll probably set up the low-light video camera and put in a tape. I’ve got hours of video tape from showers from that I’ve yet to watch (on the small screen), and some day I’ll come up with a feasible way of compiling this all in a big picture, digitally, of course. You see, last year’s Perseid tape is in fact another form of weather insurance for my get-together: rain or clear skies, we can enjoy the shower, bug-free along with that chocolate cake dessert.

Moondark is written by Doug Miller, published at the Moondark web site, and printed in the Delmarva Star Gazers' Star Gazer News. This document was last revised on 24 July 2005. Text and images copyright © 2005 by Douglas C. Miller, All Rights Reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without prior permission.