[Lvas] Perseid Meteor Shower

[David Blanchette]

Coming up the night of Aug 11 - 12, the moon is one day short of Last Quarter.

 From the International Meteor Organization 
Meteor Shower Calendar 2009 (http://www.imo.net/calendar/2009):

Perseids: Although the major northern hemisphere 
Perseids are badly affected by the last quarter 
Moon near their best this year, there is the 
possibility they may produce more than one peak 
again, perhaps also with somewhat increased 
rates. The usual maximum is due around August 12, 
17h30m-20h00m UT (?o = 140°0-140°1), but Esko 
Lyytinen suggests we may encounter the 1610 
Perseid trail earlier on August 12, around 9h00m 
UT (?o = 139°661). This could produce activity 
additional to the normal Perseid ZHRs then of a 
few tens, maybe up to a hundred, probably with a 
fairly normal magnitude distribution, or perhaps 
marginally brighter. He further suggests that 
rates overall could be enhanced above usual by 
the relative proximity of the annual stream's 
core, most likely at other times on August 12 
ahead of the normal peak. The 19th century trail 
should pass roughly 0.003 astronomical units 
inside the Earth's orbit at ?o = 139°499, so 
around 5h UT on August 12, though it may add less 
than 10 to the ZHR at that point. Naturally, 
information to verify what takes place will be 
very valuable despite the Moon, so visual 
observers are encouraged to try to follow as much 
of what happens over the possible Perseid maxima as practical.