THEY'RE HERE! The Fiery Tears of St. Lawrence

[anakin]

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The Perseid Meteor Shower will peak late night on Aug. 12 as per PAG-ASA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01-X_oj_j4A

The Perseids are also known as "The Tears of St. Lawrence"

The story: Laurentius, a Christian deacon, is said to have been martyred by the
Romans in 258 AD on an iron outdoor stove. It was in the midst of this torture that
Laurentius cried out: "I am already roasted on one side and, if thou wouldst have
me well cooked, it is time to turn me on the other."

The saint's death was commemorated on his feast day, Aug. 10. King Phillip II of Spain
built his monastery place the "Escorial," on the plan of the holy gridiron. And the abundance
of shooting stars seen annually between approximately Aug. 8 and 14 have come to be
known as St. Lawrence's "fiery tears."

[anakin]

keep your wishes handy as there will be "shooting stars"

[elia]

wow... looking forward to it.. hopefully dili cloudy ang skies...

[anakin]

i hope too na clear ang skies ana...

[anakin]

Excellent prospects this year
According to the best estimates, in 2010 the Earth is predicted to cut through the
densest part of the Perseid stream sometime around 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
on Thursday.
The best window of opportunity to see the shower will be the late-night hours of
Wednesday on through the first light of dawn on the morning of Thursday, and then
again during the late-night hours of Aug. 12 into the predawn hours of Aug. 13.
The Moon, whose bright light almost totally wrecked last year's shower, will have
zero impact this year; unlike last year when it was just a few days past full, this
year it will be new on Monday, Aug. 9, meaning that there will be absolutely no
interference from it at all.

Excellent!

What to expect
A very good shower will produce about one meteor per minute for a given observer
under a dark country sky. Any light pollution or moonlight considerably reduces the
count.The August Perseids are among the strongest of the readily observed annual
meteor showers, and at maximum activity nominally yields 90 or 100 meteors per hour.
Anyone in a city or near bright suburban lights will see far fewer.

However, observers with exceptional skies often record even larger numbers.
Typically during an overnight watch, the Perseids are capable of producing a number
of bright, flaring and fragmenting meteors, which leave fine trains in their wake.
On the night of shower maximum, the Perseid radiant is not far from the famous
"Double Star Cluster" of Perseus (hence the name, "Perseid"). Low in the northeast during
the early evening, it rises higher in the sky until [COLOR=#366388 !important][COLOR=#366388 !important]morning [COLOR=#366388 !important]twilight[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] ends observing. Shower
members appearing close to the radiant have foreshortened tracks; those appearing
farther away are often brighter, have longer tracks, and move faster across the sky.
About five to 10 of the meteors seen in any given hour will not fit this geometric pattern,
and may be classified as sporadic or as members of some other (minor) shower.

How to watch
Aside from the predicted peak hours, Perseid meteor shower activity always increases
sharply in the hours after midnight. We are then looking more nearly face-on into the
direction of the Earth's motion as it orbits the sun, so the atmosphere above you
scoops up meteors like the windshield of a car catching bugs. From around 2 a.m.
until daybreak your local time, the Perseids promise to put on a good display, weather
permitting. Making a meteor count is as simple as lying in a lawn chair or on the ground
and marking on a clipboard whenever a "shooting star" is seen. Watching for the
Perseids consists of lying back, gazing up into the stars, and waiting. It is customary
to watch the point halfway between the radiant (which will be rising in the northeast sky)
and the zenith, though it's perfectly all right for your gaze to wander.

Counts should be made on several nights before and after the predicted maximum,
so the behavior of the shower away from its peak can be determined. Usually, good
numbers of meteors should be seen on the preceding and following nights as well.
The shower is generally at one-quarter strength one or two nights before and after
maximum. A few Perseids can be seen as much as two weeks before and a week after
the peak. The extreme limits, in fact, are said to extend from July 17 to Aug. 24, t
hough an occasional one may be seen almost anytime during the month of August. As a bonus every evening now through he heart of the Perseid meteor shower,
three bright planets are tightly clustered just after sunset. Venus, Mars and Saturn
are easy to spot in the southwestern sky as soon as darkness falls.