Perseids 2009
Anybody else watched this awesome phenomenon? Srsl, it was EPIC *__*
First of all, I'm a little bit crazy when it comes to astronomy .... XD So, when I heard there was going to be a sky-event between Monday night (11th) and Tuesday morning (12th), I HAD to watch it *__* I'm so happy I did, it was very cool.
So, for anyone who doesn't know about this, it's a shooting star extravaganza XD The Perseids originate from the constellation of Perseus in the Northern Hemisphere. they travel from West to East in a linear motion.
On monday night, there were a ton of them *__* Unfortunately, I couldn't watch those, so I watched them on the following evening (12th-13th Aug.) I staked outside from 12:30 AM till 2:00 AM and managed to catch 43 shooting stars :D The main problem this year was the moon D: Because it was in it's waxing cycle, it was uber bright henceforth, overshadowing the stars :( In any case, it was still worth it ^__^ Thank goodness it was a clear night for star gazing! It was the perfect to night to observe the other constellations too such as Ursa Major (big dipper), Ursa Minor (small dipper), Cygnus, Draco, Cassiopea, etc. as wel as the major stars such as Polaris, Sirius, Arcturus, the "summer triangle" (Vega, Altaïr, Deneb). Mars and Saturn were also visible in certain areas, sadly, I didn't see them ... too many trees >__<
I look forward to next year's showers too~ Maybe by then I'll have a camera powerful enough to catch these beauties on film!
~S.K.~