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(meteorobs) Perseid - "subjective maximum"



Hi!

Some friends of mine want to come over and see the Perseids to "see 
what that meteor thing is about" and we're planning to observe 
together on the peak night, maybe from 12/08 21:30UT - 13/08 2:30UT.
Now what I read on another meteor mailing list 
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MeteorShowers, which is not essential 
if you are reading meteorobs, NAMN News or the AMS Meteor Outlook)...

> The bad news: The Perseids normally have a peak rate of 65 - 70 
> meteors per hour, but unfortunately the 98% illuminated Moon will 
> virtually destroy the Perseids this year.

> The good news: Fortunately due to the fact that some can be seen 
> both before and after the peak, you have an good opportunity to
> catch some Perseids this weekend. As we move toward the peak on 
> the 13th, Perseid activity is slowly rising. During this weekend,
> the Moon will have already set, or be fairly low in the sky, during
> the pre-dawn hours when meteor watching is typically at its best. So
> while you will not see as much activity this weekend as you normally
> would at the peak, you will quite likely do better observing this
> weekend than you will on the peak night.

I would like them to see the best possible show and thought that 12/13 
Aug is best although we have full moon (also because the Perseids are 
rather bright). I also thought that conditions two nights earlier, 
when moon sets some time before sun rises are not that much better 
that this will move the "subjective peak", the time when a visual 
observer sees most meteors, so much. But after reading that article, 
I doubt it. So what would you say: when will we actually see the best 
rates?

Greetings and Thanks

Daniel Gruen
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