Thursday 13 August 2015

Perseid meteor shower

I sat out last night looking for the Perseid meteor shower. My camera isn't good enough to photograph the meteors but you can see the Anthorn aerials in the distance. The media suggested 100 per hour. from Wigton, it was about 1 every 5 minutes from 11pm to midnight and maybe 2 or 3 in 5 minutes at 2.45am. The shooting stars are caused by debris from the Comet Swift-Tuttle being heated to high temperatures by friction as it enters the atmosphere. Incandescent hot material is shed, leaving a trail. It was wonderful. I also noticed how much of the Milky Way is visible from Wigton with a properly dark-adapted eye.