My wife & I went out on the deck last night at 3:00am, laid back on the deck chairs, and watched meteors for about 40 minutes. At the final tally, I think we tallied up somewhere between 30-40 streaks between us (the meteors, not us).
Unfortunately, the moon was fairly bright (but one of our trees nicely blocked it from direct view). Most of the meteors were uneventful and short-lived, but at least 3 left "fairy dust" in their wake, and one or two were just "pops" (looked like a big star winked on for a moment or two). We also saw a "jumper" (flashed on and off as it went across the sky- I'm told that's caused by a meteor that bounces off the atmosphere). One of us mistook a small airplane for a jumper, but I won't name names (but it wasn't me ;^). "Honey, that's an airplane." (Some moments in a marriage are just so special- I will say the plane had a white blinking light... the red one wasn't visible for some reason 8^).
The sky was clear in Dallas by that time of night (cloudy at midnight), and the temp was perfect for sitting out in shorts and t-shirts. We noticed the meteors came in "bunches" (we'd see 4 in one minute, and then not see another for 4-5 minutes).
All in all, a lot of fun! I've never sat out and watched a meteor shower before- but I'd highly recommend it! I understand the next major shower is expected in November (the Leonids). The moon will be dark for that one this year (but it might be a bit chillier)!
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