Friday, August 12, 2016

Perseid Meteor Shower

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Our really bad selfie at 1:00 am
Every year, my girls and I try to stay up late and watch the Perseid Meteor Shower.
This year was pretty awesome.  We grabbed some pillows and blankets and headed out to lay on the trampoline.  We were out at about 11:45 pm-1:15 am.  The moon didn't set until around 1:00 am, and there were a couple neighbor's lights and street lights giving off distracting light. The best time to see the meteor shower this year was between 1:00 - 4:00am.  We are more willing to stay up a little late at our house, then get up early.  So, we weren't in the best situation to see them.  We each saw about 12 in a little over an hour.  You should still be able to see them tonight, but the peak was last night.  They predicted about 200 an hour this year, double then the normal 100.

Check out EarthSky.org for the dates of upcoming meteor showers.
A summer bucket list must.

It takes about 20 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark. 
So, don't keep looking at your phone or other light sources.
We took a few selfies when we were done,
so it wouldn't ruin our dark adjusted eyes. 
The kids freaked out a little from the flash, lol.

It's better to go out into the country or up into the mountains to get away from the city's light pollution.  However, we usually just lay on the trampoline or on the front lawn whichever happens to be the darkest.

I love this quality time with my girls.  It's become a mother/daughter tradition.  They think it's something special to get to stay up really late.  I love the alone time and the fun conversations that come up.  Gives the camping feel without all the work.  Plus, it's free!

Don't forget to wish upon a shooting star!

Two weeks ago, I was staying at my parents house in the mountains.  I just happened to get really hot and went outside to cool off around 4:30 am, and immediately saw a meteor cross the sky from the tail end of the Delta Aquarids.  I was so excited, because I didn't even realize there was suppose to be a meteor shower.  This got me super excited to watch the Perseid shower again with my daughters.


Start a new family tradition or just add this to your summer bucket-list for next year.

If you liked this post, you might also like:
Great American Eclipse 2017
 

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