Last nights sky was particularly incredible. For August it was evidently winter, as large stretches
of the milky way was easy to identify. On clearnights like last night, certain planets, such as Mars and Jupiter* are also relatively easy to identify. Here is a photographic series of drawings with the planet Jupiter at around 01:10, 10/08/10.
If it is clear on the 11th to 14th of August, one will have a chance of seeing the meteors in the Perseid Meteor Shower - the year's most dependable meteor shower. It is a great year toobserve the Perseids as the thin crescent Moon will have set early in the evening so its glare will not hinder our view. Look up towards the North-East from 11 pm onwards on the nights of August 11th, 12th and 13th and 14th. The peak of activity - when you might expect to see 20-30 meters an hour is predicted to be between 00:30 and 03:00 BST on the morning of the 13th. This is the best time to observe on the other nights too as Perseus is rising in the sky and the
Earth is facing the meteor stream.
*Jupiter. At the beginning of August, Jupiter will rise in the east at ~10:30 BST and, at magnitude -2.7, will be well seen for much of the night. During the month it will gradually rise earlier and, by the end of the month, will rise about 20:30 BST and brighten to -2.9 magnitude. It will be high in the sky in the hours before dawn.
-Text Source: The University of Manchester. School of Physics & Astronomy. Page Editor: Ian Morison
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- "safety net"
- focus-defocus shot
