The Night Sky Guy

Perseids on the Web

If you want to experience the meteor shower in a different way, why not try and listen to meteors LIVE on the web. Spaceweather.com is offering folks a live feed to a military radar station in Texas that can pick up the echoes of meteors ionizing in the upper atmosphere above the installation. What you can hear is best described as an eerie  ’ping’ -  take a listen to a sample audio clip here(takes a few seconds to load).  It is worth listening to tonight because  rates of meteors are now being reported at well over 30 shooting stars hourly. And if you get clouded out tomorrow night, during prime-time just log-on to the radar site and enjoy the show from the comfort of your home.

Meanwhile if you are on the go and a technophile, the newest and coolest way to follow the Perseids is on Twitter. Amateur astronomers across the UK are preparing to tweet the world’s first mass participation meteor star party, as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009). Led by Newbury Astronomical Society, the Twitter Meteorwatch will take place from the evening of Tuesday 11th until the morning of 13th August 2009, covering the peak of the Perseidsmeteor shower. With astronomers around the world taking part, the Twitter Meteorwatch should reach tens of thousands of people. Steve Owens, the UK Co-ordinator of IYA2009 adds: “IYA2009 is all about getting people to look up and ask questions about the night sky. With so many astronomers taking part in the Twitter Meteorwatch there will always be something to see and someone to answer your questions…”

To get more information on how to follow the every minute LIVE go here:  http://newburyas.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/twitter-meteorwatch/

Bookmark