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I Love meteor showers. Its got to be one of my favorite activities. You just sit back and get a free fireworks show. Sometimes the show is ok, sometimes its great (like the 1996 Leonids, where I observed half a dozen fireballs or the 2001 Leonids, where the count hit thousands per hour briefly ).
The Leonid's are back to "normal" - expect only 15-20 meteors per hour, but their should be many bright ones, sometimes even with noticeable smoke trails.
This year the Leonid's peak twice - once on November 13th - which favors California, Hawaii, and East Asia - expected ZHR of 15-40 per hour. The second peak is the traditional one on the mornings of November 18th and November 19th - no storm expected, but expect lots of bright meteors (maybe like 1996?) - peak rate may be anywhere from 50 to 100 per hour
results - caught some meteors - about a 15-20 ZHR from my estimation - some nice bright ones though!
Got to get some looks at this - caught a good half dozen meteors just looking up - probably an hourly rate of 30-50 per hour from my location - not bad
Results: Rain!
This is the last year of the high activity Leonid's we've all gotten used to the past few years. This year has a double peak late Monday night, and another one around dawn, favoring the east coast of North America.
Results: Not as good as hoped - but still caught quiet a few meteors. Last year still takes the cake...
The Perseids this year is probably back to its traditional single peak, on the evening of the 12th for US observers, rather than the double peak we've all gotten to enjoy. And as a plus - almost no moon during the show! Expected peak is 60-100 meteors per hour.
Results: Caught over a dozen in an hour - focussing on a small part of the sky - not bad at all!
Results: Alas - missed it!
This shower generally produces 20 meteors per hour, though occasionally it has had brief bursts of activity. Good warmup for the rest of the year.
The Leonid's have been the most watched meteor shower of the past decade - as a result it also has the best predictions. For people in North America the peak is expected to be early morning November 18th 3-5 AM. For East Asia and the Western Pacific Rim an even more impressive display is predicted 8 hour laters, during the early morning of November 19th. The morning of November 17th also should have a fine display - though there is a much smaller chance of a meteor storm than on the previously mentioned occasions.
Results: Amazing! They came in bursts of several at a time for about a minute, then would fade to a "slower" rate of 1 every few seconds. Watched from about 4 to 6 AM, probably saw several thousand over that period - best minute was about 50 or so personally counted - and I was only viewing about 1/4 of the sky... Also - many bright meteors with distinctive green color, and lingering trails.
Averages an hourly rate of 20 per hour at peak - with very fast moving meteors - this is the last big meteor shower before the Leonid meteor shower.
Results: Cloudy the whole time - bad luck I guess
The Perseids this year as in previous will probably have two peaks, one on the morning of the 12th, another on the morning of the 13th. The moon should be less of a problem than it has been in previous years. Expected peak is 60-100 meteors per hour.
Results: rain. again. oh well - better luck next time.
This shower usually produces 10-30 meteors per hour, though occasionally it will produce more. Good warmup event to kick off the meteor observing year.
Results: rain. alas. seems I have bad luck with Lyrids!
I am not planning on watching these - but there is a prediction that activity might be increased for this usually very quiet meteor shower. Activity might be up to 50-100 per hour around the expected peak.
Because of a full moon, it may be difficult to see the Geminid meteor shower this year. Still, peak rates can get as high as 100-120 per hour, so it may be worth it...if it wasn't so cold!
results: too darn cold to go out and see em! Plus the scattered clouds and BRIGHT moonlight made it difficult to see anything...
Once again the Leonid's have the potential to break out into a meteor storm this year! Keep looking the mornings of the 17th and 18th - even in a "normal" year the peak should still be better than any shower except the Geminid or Perseid meteor showers.
Results: Fantastic! I missed the 17th's display due to clouds, but managed to catch the morning of the 18th from about 2AM to 3AM. The peak rate I would estimate in the range of two to three hundred meteors per hour. Many meteors were very bright, and even though I was scanning only a small portion of a sky, I often caught several meteors within in a span of a minute...sometimes they seemed to follow each other in small bursts in the same part of the sky. The best display I've seen in years!
I've had some very good years with this shower, and some bad ones (in terms of quality/brightness). Usually this meteor shower has a peak rate of roughly 15 to 20 meteors per hour. Unfortunately, the moon might interfere with observation this year, so viewing might be better on the mornings after the peak...
Results: A few scattered meteors in an hour or so of viewing. None were very bright. Still...a good warmup for the Leonid's!
The Perseids this year as in previous will probably have two peaks, one on the morning of the 12th, another on the morning of the 13th. Unfortunately the moon will be up during most of the show - best viewing will probably as the moon is rising (as the sun sets) or as the moon is setting (about an hour before sunrise in NY). Expected peak is 60 meteors per hour (less with the moon).
Results: Unfortunately it was hard to see many meteors through the rain that fell for a week around the peak. Oh well.
Usually this shower is pretty weak. But you take what you can get. Hopefully will peak at 15-30 per hour. Results: Clouds. And they didn't break for over a week. Well, at least this summer's comet will be by for longer than a night - I'm going to HAVE to see that.
I normally don't try to catch since this one, since its too damn cold. But supposedly it can be pretty spectacular.
Results: clouds clouds and more clouds. And it was warm too. grrr!
One of the best shows of the year its peak rate can hit 120 per hour - too bad its so darn cold out when it appears. But its been such a disappointing 98/99 - I better start 2000 with a bang!
results: lots of rains and clouds. grrr. But on the bright side, I did get to see the Nova in Aquila last week with my binoculars, before it faded out of view.
This year the Leonids have the potential of bursting into a rarely seen meteor storm - with a peak hourly rate in the thousands or higher!!!
results: A decent show - a peak hourly rate around 40. But still, not as great a show as the Perseids or Geminids. Better luck next year hopefully. sigh.
With a peak hourly rate in the 20's, this will be the last tune up to the upcoming Leonid Meteor STORM!!! Not that I'm excited.
This meteors shower rarely dissapoints. I can hopefully take off from work to watch this year (anyone know any good vacation spots in upstate new york or eastern li to star gaze)?
results: Saw them at my good friend Tanya's house up in Putnam, and I must say i was not dissapointed. In about 90-100 minutes of viewing we saw at least a dozen bright (-magnitude) meteors, and at least twice as many dim meteors. And all this with clouds covering 30-60 percent of the sky as they moved through.
Usually sorta weak it's activity pops up sometimes. Maybe I'll get lucky this year. After the crappy observing of the past fall I could use a good one. Assuming I have time to see it. (note - i saw them . they were pretty crappy. about 3-4 weak meteors. alas)
one of the consistently best performing meteor showers of the year, it rises early, and will be relatively moon free this year. I'm hoping for big things this year!
results: it was cold. and i saw some meteors, but nothing that great. lots of dim swift moving meteors. brrrrr. too cold.
I unfortunately missed the first night of this years display, but reported rates were 1/minute with lots of fireballs (similiar to what I saw two years ago). I'm hoping to catch it when the clouds break for the 2nd night of the peak, and subsequent nights this year.
results: alas clouds failed to break for this one. But my friend Tina reported that it was very strong, with lots of brightly colored meteors leaving trails.
These meteors are usually infrequent, but may pick up this year. This year there should be a lot of bright meteors every clear night over the whole peak.
Report: some minor activity, around 5/hour in early november. Hard to distinguish from the Orionids. At least the ones I saw could have come from Orion or Taurus.
This has given me some good shows befor, and I'm hoping this year is no exception. This meteor shower has a peak rate of roughly 20 meteors per hour.
Report: some minor activity over the nights. about 5-10 per hour from my location around the peak, about 5/hour the week before. Hard to distinguish from Taurids.
This is a meteor shower that only peaks every several years, last in 1992. They're predicting another spike of activity this year, though how good it will be is unknown. The average hourly rate though has the potential to hit several hundred per hour!
Report: It rained! Arrggghhhh! I'll put a report up if any one i know saw any.
One of the premier meteor showers of the year, the view will probably be spoiled though by...the moon.
Report: Saw a couple of little zingers despite cloudiness AND the moon. plus my
With a peak hourly rate of as high as 60 per hour, this could give some real fireworks. Chances are though it'll be more like 20 per hour.
Report: saw about a dozen or so over an hours viewing. Not bad
at all. But I guess I'll have to wait to see a REAL display.
Usually sorta weak it's activity pops up sometimes. Maybe I'll get lucky this year. After the crappy observing of the past fall I could use a good one.
Report: Watched for an hour after midnight, and saw good bright (mag 1 or better) meteors about once every 6-10 minutes. Good display.
Last year I saw a lot of fireballs with long lasting trains. I hope to see more this year. Peak hourly rate hit 50 per hour last year, but should unfortunately be obscured by moonlight this go around. Hopefully Binghamton will be cloud free!
Report: Hmphh! Clouds again. I did see a couple of decent ones fly by though. Oh well. Next Year.
Average hourly rates for this shower is around 20 per hour during peak periods of activity. It gave a good show last year but unfortunately this year will be obscured by a rising moon.
Alas, I missed this meteor shower do to the oppressing cloud cover of Binghamton. Boo!
I saw the first peak and it was pretty intense. Not a lot of fireballs, but pretty good none the less.
The Eta Aquarids: Peaked May 4th through May 6th
The Lyrids: Peaked April 22nd, 10 UT (5 AM, Eastern)
The Leonid's: November 15-20
Peak is November 17th around 1-5AM (East Coast)
The Orionid's: October 20-23
Peak October 21st at 1 AM (East coast)
The Perseid's
This year's Perseids had two peaks: a shorter more intense peak
on the morning of August 12th (around 4:15 AM EDT, or 1:15 AM PDT)and a longer not as intense peak twelve hours later.