Glutton for punishment?

I know I am. That’s why you’ll see me down at the lake in a few nights, because the Perseids meteor shower is peaking on August 12th, but of course, you’re likely to still see some within a few days before or after, so whenever the conditions suit you, have at it.

The nicer bit is, the moon will be a waxing crescent, so setting in the early part of the evening and long gone by midnight, which is when the best opportunities begin. The satellites, of course, will still be there, but again, past midnight fewer of them show because the sun is blocked by the Earth for all but the farthest ones, or those nearer the poles.

You have plenty of time to plan, so boot up Stellarium or check out Heavens Above and see what satellites might go through for your area. Or just scout out some prime locations to do long exposures within, preferably something with a nice foreground – maybe you’ll get extremely lucky and get a nice brilliant bolide over top of something scenic. The possibilities are endless! Extremely thin, granted, and requiring a shitload of luck, but still endless – an infinitely long hair.

One of these days, I’ll have an image to illustrate these announcements…

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