Perseid meteors at Austerfield

Thursday 12th: Today being the "Glorious 12th" is the peak of the Perseid Meteors. Every year at DAS were have a Barbecue out at Austerfield Field Study Centre when society members come together for a bit to eat, have a drink and socialise as a prelude to watching the meteor display - clear sky permitting! There was a good turn-out by members. Well as you'd expect it was cloudy with rain showers but at about 11:15pm the sky began to clear, Cassiopeia and Perseus could be seen, the Milky-Way hung across the sky and looked majestic, Jupiter shone brightly to the south-east...and the display was on! The more hardier of us stayed and witnessed a good show! Between 11:25 and 12:16pm, I personally saw 13 Perseids, some were quite spectacular, being bright flashes and leaving long trails in the sky. Tired and with the prospect of work at 8am, I said my farewells and departed for home. The few that stayed until about 2am were treated to many more Perseids! When I got home, the sky had gone cloudy again but Melanie did see 4 Perseids from our garden!

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