Clear Sky’s

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Not till you get interested in the night sky do you notice how cloudy Ireland is, plus living in or near a city gives you major light pollution, (it was this week last year when the ESB @ poolbeg was blasting the night sky). So when sky?s are clear, take a look, last night was cloudy but Wednesday was clear, I was spotting satellites and meteors at a ratio of 3:1. the biggest shower of the year is peaking tonight (6pm~) so tonight if clear we should see Perseid Meteors peak.

Friday, 8/12 [US east coast time/location source space.com]
Perseid Meteors peak, 1:00 p.m.
Obviously the timing is not perfect, as this occurs during daylight hours. However, observers before dawn should be a good view because there is no bright Moon to interfere. Look high in the Northeast quadrant of the sky before dawn. There is also a well-known secondary peak about 14-15 hours earlier, putting it in the Thursday evening twilight for much of western North America. Unfortunately this timing has the disadvantage of poor placement of the radiant (in Perseus) to the far Northeast, and in the presence of a bright, nearly First Quarter Moon. Thus, before dawn on Friday is the best bet.