The Westronomy Blog

NOW AVAILABLE: Major Meteor Showers in 2024 Jump to: Quadrantids , Lyrids , Eta Aquariids , Southern Delta Aquariids , PERSEIDS , Orionids , Leonids , GEMINIDS , Ursids I had an active 2022, and got in at least one observing session for each of the major showers, even though the timing and moonlight conditions weren’t favorable for most. I didn’t have any exceptional meteor observing sessions; the best was probably for the Tau Herculids, which fell far short of the hyped possible storm but were still a very enjoyable shower.  In 2023, the Moon will be much less of a problem for the Perseids and Geminids, so these should be considered can’t-miss shower peaks. Moonlight casualties are the Quadrantids and the Eta Aquariids. This page gives observing prospects for the 9 most dependable and prolific meteor showers for Northern Hemisphere observers (descriptions will be most accurate for mid-Northern observers in North America–East Asian observers especially will want to check their loca...

My first experience in astronomy was on a camping trip somewhere in the Southeast US. I was 3 years old, and my dad took me on a walk after dark. He showed me some stars, maybe the Big Dipper, but what I recall most was that he told me "maybe we'll see a shooting star." We didn't see one then, but I remember that walk more than I remember my first shooting star, whenever I finally saw it. Usually I relate that story to introduce my long experience in meteor observing. But this time it's about my dad. He lived for over 93 years, but earlier this month he went into hospice care after worsening congestive heart failure. Just after midnight on the morning of December 13th, my mom called me to say "I think he's gone." I told her I would be there soon. I drove northward through the frigid, moonlit morning to the site of my childhood home, past the site that I normally use for meteor observation. As I continued up the highway, at 12:40am I saw a long, brigh...

It was supposed to be clear. It wasn't. Low clouds and fog stayed around all day and were still present when I got off work after 5pm. All of my close, low-elevation observing sites were under the blanket judging from the satellite images. I needed to go up in elevation to get off the basin floor. Unfortunately, there had been a snowstorm last week, so road conditions over the Cascade passes looked dubious. I needed somewhere I could get to in under an hour. Also, I didn't have a Sno-Park permit. So going west wasn't a great option. The other clear place on the satellite image was to the northeast. There is a 5000' pass at Bly Mountain, and the roads looked okay. I wasn't sure that I was going to make it up there in time, or exactly where I would set up if I did, but I decided to give it a shot. I already had my scope pre-cooled in the car (from an excellent Mars observing session the previous night ), so I threw in the accessory cases, binoculars, camera and tripod...