FNRttC Friday Night Ride to the Coast - Bognor Regis 12th August 2011

[dellzeqq]

*Hides Exposure Race Maxx, Exposure Joystick, Dinotte Front and Rear Light etc*

The ZHR for sporadics is about 60, so waiting for a few minutes, you would probably stand a good chance of seeing a sporadic. With the Perseids having a predicted ZHR of 100 this year, looking towards perseus itself (and obviously the radiant), we should see almost two a minute on average, so kill most of the lights, and look in the direction for five minutes, and we really ought to be able to see several perseids (and possibly the odd sporadic).

I was wondering about those ZHRs

Tim - the ride usually regroups at Betchworth (after the descent and the level crossing) and I then let the front end zip along at whatever pace to spread out the arrivals at the Cabin Cafe (9th best truckstop in the UK!). I would say that one of the furthest point away from settlememt would just after the right/left turns at Dawes Green. I'll recce the route with the intention of finding a quiet spot where we can all lie down in the road (keeping an ear out for traffic, naturally).

We did see Skylab from Slugwash Lane on the Newhaven Night Ride

 

[dellzeqq]

We'll take it in turns - falling stars ...

you'll need pockets.....

 

[redjedi]

Will the full moon interfere with the stargazing though?

On the mornings of August 12 and 13, you can still watch for some Perseid meteors to streak across this short summer night from midnight until dawn. Yet the full moon will interfere.

http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide

 

[ianrauk]

What with all this talk of meteor showers.. something very important has seemed to have been forgotten and needs to be discussed.

The Cabin Cafe... is it Cheese and Ham sarnies again?

 

[dellzeqq]

What with all this talk of meteor showers.. something very important has seemed to have been forgotten and needs to be discussed.

The Cabin Cafe... is it Cheese and Ham sarnies again?

it is! As in no cooking. And, hopefully, no queueing!

 

[Tim Hall]

I was wondering about those ZHRs

Tim - the ride usually regroups at Betchworth (after the descent and the level crossing) and I then let the front end zip along at whatever pace to spread out the arrivals at the Cabin Cafe (9th best truckstop in the UK!). I would say that one of the furthest point away from settlememt would just after the right/left turns at Dawes Green. I'll recce the route with the intention of finding a quiet spot where we can all lie down in the road (keeping an ear out for traffic, naturally).

We did see Skylab from Slugwash Lane on the Newhaven Night Ride

Presumably if we don't see any meteors, we might at least see a Super Galaxy.

 

[martint235]

We did see Skylab from Slugwash Lane on the Newhaven Night Ride

Did we??

 

[dellzeqq]

Did we??

sorry - I should have said the NNR was in 2005 - the very first FNRttC

 

[Andrij]

As I'm now certain I won't be spending 13 August collecting my new bike, please add me to the list for this ride.

Hopefully I'll finally be able to make one of these rides again (work schedule is looking 'light' at the moment).

 

[TimO]

The ZHR is the Zenith Hourly Rate, it's the number of meteors you would see (in an hour) if you could spot all of them, and they were directly overhead (at the zenith), which gives the most clear visibility.

In practice the radiant is generally not at the zenith, and you can only really focus reliably on a small area of the sky at a time. Obviously if we look at the radiant, we'll stand the best chance of seeing the most meteors. A dark sky isn't necessarily that much of a requirement for meteor spotting (although it helps), since they are relatively bright compared to other astronomical phenomena.

 

[ceepeebee]

a camera with a long exposure (and held steadily) will generally capture them way better than the naked eye. Quite a few times I've been messing around in the garden with the camera and got a couple of meteor trails on a frame that I never saw myself.

 

[Andy84]

Hi Simon, can I be added to the list please?

 

[Aperitif]

The ZHR is the Zenith Hourly Rate, it's the number of meteors you would see (in an hour) if you could spot all of them, and they were directly overhead (at the zenith), which gives the most clear visibility.

In practice the radiant is generally not at the zenith, and you can only really focus reliably on a small area of the sky at a time. Obviously if we look at the radiant, we'll stand the best chance of seeing the most meteors. A dark sky isn't necessarily that much of a requirement for meteor spotting (although it helps), since they are relatively bright compared to other astronomical phenomena.

There's more to this than might meteor eye.
Hope your recuperation is progressing nicely, Tim.

 

[The Jogger]

Is there a space Simon if I manage to get some leave?

 

[ceepeebee]

ISS though not Skylab.

this website:
http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=CET

will tell us if ISS will be visible on the ride by tomorrow or Thursday - looks like it may be a bit early though