West Seattle skywatching: Perfect Perseid-viewing night

As of this writing, approaching midnight, the sky remains as clear as it was when JayDee took that sunset photo in Upper Alki a few hours ago, and that means that if you can get away from some of the city lights, you should have a good chance of seeing tonight’s Perseid meteor shower. Here’s the advice from Seattle Astronomy (recommended by our resident Skies Over West Seattle expert Alice Enevoldsen). And the sky will be even darker soon – if you have a view to the west right now, you can see the moon will soon set “behind” Vashon (the moonset/moonrise/sunset/sunrise times are always on the WSB West Seattle Weather page, and 12:19 am is the official time tonight). Let us know if you’re having meteor-watching success!

T August 12, 2016 (2:45 am)

I’ve seen several meteors in the past few hours from highland park.

WSB August 12, 2016 (2:56 am)

Yay! We tried watching from our backyard for a while but just couldn’t focus in.

Tedb310 August 12, 2016 (3:35 am)

I’ve seen a couple here in North Admiral, but there are too many streetlights. It’s kind of funny that normally I don’t think there are enough streetlights, but the one night I’m trying to avoid them they seem like they’re everywhere,

NotOnHolden August 12, 2016 (6:42 am)

We saw a few between 2 and 3 am in the Highland Park/White Center area. It was a “if you blink, you’ll miss it” type of thing by even the first one we saw it was worth getting up. Very cool!

ACG August 12, 2016 (6:45 am)

Missed them last night. Are they visible tonight?

WSB August 12, 2016 (8:25 am)

What was happening this morning was “the peak” of the Perseids, so, potentially, yes: http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower

Lee O'Connor August 12, 2016 (8:25 am)

We saw about five meteors when we walked out to Lowman Beach Park just before midnight.

Mike August 12, 2016 (9:04 am)

Beautiful shot, Lee!

sam-c August 12, 2016 (9:06 am)

I saw a couple meteors between 1ish and 2ish. Better than none I guess! I was lying on the porch in the backyard and heard some animals, so got spooked and went inside (i’ve seen raccoons walking through the yard before)

Helihu August 12, 2016 (9:58 am)

We saw about 20 from 4:30-5:15 at Constellation Park, despite having half the sky washed out by streetlights.

seaopgal August 12, 2016 (12:05 pm)

I saw 5 before midnight in the Junction, then it looked like it was starting to sock in, so I gave up. I’m glad to hear that it didn’t for a change. Beautiful shot, Lee!

wssz August 12, 2016 (2:25 pm)

I went to six different locations before finally finding a magnificent overlook without streetlights. Ended up seeing 20+ meteors between 1-2:30 this morning. Absolutely spectacular.

So grateful to the woman in the lower section of Mee Kwa Mooks who mentioned how fast the meteors are. I wouldn’t have known to look for their lightening fast streaks of light without her. And she mentioned that perhaps a ferry tonight would be the best viewing. Great idea. I’m hoping to do that.

Such a great reminder of how enormous our universe is, and how connected we all are. My beloved international students in Taiwan and Okinawa were watching too!

Lee, GLORIOUS shot.

WSB August 12, 2016 (2:42 pm)

That IS a great idea.

clark5080 August 12, 2016 (3:40 pm)

WSSZ where was the good spot without light pollution?

wssz August 12, 2016 (6:38 pm)

The spot I found was on a dead end of a quiet residential street with an overlook. It’s part of my walking route, so I knew there was potential there. I would recommend checking the little nooks and crannies of your part of WS.

Joan E. O'Brien August 12, 2016 (5:03 pm)

I was amazed that I spotted 5 in about 10 minutes from our backyard on Gatewood Hill, and one was a bright, sustained streak just above the horizon. East/Northeast seemed to be the prime spot. It was busiest 11-11:30, but it was such a gorgeous night and I was so excited I ended up heading back out every 30 minutes or so til 2AM (and did see a more each time). Pooped today but completely worth it. I’ll be out again tonight.

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