Clear skys, new moon should make for viewing tonight optimal. Peaks after midnight, 20-30 streaks/hr.

Just came in from viewing. Saw a couple. Most were fast, but one lasted for 15 seconds... I should have gotten out yesterday morning for the peak.... I like that stuff.

...

Saturday night I saw a meteor that I can only describe as phenomenal... The flare was bright green and was huge... I have seen countless shooting stars while sailing and fishing, but this one was mind blowing.
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When out at night, I always keep one eye (sometimes both) to the sky as you never know what you'll see. One of my most memorable views was of the comet Hale-Bopp back in '97. I just happened to be in the wilderness of Idaho so no light pollution, also no moon, of any kind. The view of this comet was unbelievable. The forked tails literally stretched across 40% of the sky.

The numbers of other celestial objects (stars, Milky Way galaxy, planets, etc) are also unimaginable when one removes light pollution.

The numbers of other celestial objects (stars, Milky Way galaxy, planets, etc) are also unimaginable when one removes light pollution.

One of the reasons I love fishing the outer cape beaches.

The next show is starting: The Geminids. Peaks Monday morning about 2AM but start looking now.

?Gem? of a meteor shower underway - Space.com- msnbc.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34364574/ns/technology_and_science-space/)

When out at night, I always keep one eye (sometimes both) to the sky as you never know what you'll see. One of my most memorable views was of the comet Hale-Bopp back in '97. I just happened to be in the wilderness of Idaho so no light pollution, also no moon, of any kind. The view of this comet was unbelievable. The forked tails literally stretched across 40% of the sky.

The numbers of other celestial objects (stars, Milky Way galaxy, planets, etc) are also unimaginable when one removes light pollution.

Back in the early 90's my brother and I both picked up telescopes.
His was a bit more elaborate than mine, but both were good models.
Mine is can double as a field spotting scope, but it is more telescope than anything else.
Having this telescope (still have it to this day) I also saved and picked up a number of magnification lenses as well. My favorites are a pair of Barlow 2X lenses. These lenses basically double the power of any lens used in conjunction with them.

Now this is where the fun begins: I "piggyback" these 2 lenses so that it gives 4X the mag, and I can see the craters on the moon, as well as the mountains on the outside perimeter of the moon. I can see the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn and the gas nebulas that are just below Orions belt.

When the comet was visible, I was able to see the ice ball that the comet was comprised of. It was awesome.

I have started to show my neices and nephews some of the easy-to-view objects in the evening sky. They think it's cool, and so do I.

Thanks for jogging my memory, I needed it today!

Maybe this will help, too. If you ever get the chance to see a total solar eclipse do whatever it takes to see it!
I was able to view and capture in pictures the '80 eclipse that occurred in the Pacific NW. Forecast was for cloudy skies but potentially, partial clearing as the wind waves occurred over the Cascade Mts in WA. We got in a car at 3:30AM and started driving through the desolate area of central WA. 20 minutes before totality we saw a break, gave it our best and got to a clearing, setup with just a few minutes to spare. Total was scheduled for 2.5 min but we where lucky to see for about 45 seconds. Even got images of Bailey's Bead on the backside of the eclipse.

Nothing like the experience of Totality.

Two particularly weird things that I noticed during our last partial solar eclipse was that the shadows cast by the trees' leaves were all crescent shaped . The other was that because of the lower light conditions, the birds at the Boston Common reverted BACK to their early morning activity. That meant pigeons headed back to their roosts, morning song birds started up all over, and a red-tailed hawk swooped low over the people looking for another morning meal.

Sometimes the most interesting things are things you weren't looking for in the first place.

I also keep an eye out for rings around the sun and moon (ice crystals in the upper atmosphere), sun dogs an moon dogs. The last two you have to know what to look for.