Perseid Meteor Shower & ISS Passings - August 2014

Here's something a bit different for you.

Perseid Meteors!! Now unless you have a slight interest in the stars and space, you probably have no idea what these are. Shooting stars!!

I'm not going to go into all the ins and outs of what Perseid Meteors are and why they occur (probably because I'm not 100% clued up myself) but here's a bit of information on how you can spot them!!



Perseid Meteors occur every August around the 12th but a few can be seen for just over a week before and for about a week after the peak of the shower.

This years shower is due on 12th-13th August and can definitely be seen now!!

To view them all you need to do is look up!! I live in a light polluted area and have been able to spot many over the past few years including some really bright ones (fireballs). The meteors can come from all directions so no need to worry about facing a certain point.

Fill your view with as much space as possible and keep a good eye out as they're really quick.

Expect to see 10-20 per hour on the week before and after the peak of the shower and around 100 per hour within the peak!!

You don't need a telescope or a pair of binoculars as they can be seen with just your beady little eyes.



Not convinced?? I'd never had a massive interest in the universe and spacey things, but just recently after actually noticing what's going on above our heads whilst we sleep, its opened up my mind and I am so keen to learn more.

This is super exciting stuff and feels completely magical. I still get goose bumps after a fair few months of star gazing.





The second part of this post is fairly similar. The International Space Station (ISS) can be seen passing over!!

The ISS isn't visible through out the whole year and there are certain times of its passing. You can find these times by heading over to http://www.meteorwatch.org/ or by following @VirtualAstro on twitter for updates through the year and also at the time of the passing.

To see the ISS pass over, you will need to look to the west.

The ISS looks like a bright star that moves fairly quickly over the night sky. It doesn't flash... that would be a plane you've spotted.







So go out and look up!! You won't be disappointed!!




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