What meteor shower did I just see this weekend?

Question

This Saturday, August 12, around midnight, I watched a meteor shower in Galveston TX and saw the most amazing breathtaking fireball of my life. I want to do a fireball sighting report with the AMS. What shower do you think it was? I think it was the Perseids but perhaps it's too early?

Answer 1

This past Saturday was August 9th.  The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the 12th, but is visible at least a week before and after.  I saw a few Perseid meteors this past Saturday while mostly observing objects with a telescope.  You don't see any while looking through a telescope, since the field of view is so small.  So while briefly looking for the next object, i'd happen to see another meteor.  Not all the meteors were Perseids. Those are the ones that can be traced back to the constellation Perseus.

Last night, the peak, i saw some 16 Perseids, 9 non Perseids.  I missed about 5 meteors that others in my group saw.  It wasn't that impressive.  Just as the Moon set, the clouds rolled in.

You should be able to catch Perseid meteors this coming weekend - just not as many as the peak.

Answer 2

Perseid--- it's still going on tonight -- just not as many.