The Perseid meteor shower Best show in the universe

I'm looking to spend the night on the lake,,, this should be fun

I'm sure you will but take your camera

How to Observe a Meteor Shower

First you need to find out when the meteor shower is (See the table in source below). Next you want to find a place with a clear view of the entire sky. Dark areas well away from any city lights are best. Avoid places where vehicle headlights will momentarily dazzle you. The best approach is to recline in a lawn chair or on the ground with a pillow so you are comfortably looking up. Knowledge of the constellation where the radiant lies may be useful but not necessary: meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. Then relax and gaze into the heavens. Binoculars are not necessary to see the meteors but may be helpful in seeing the vapor trail after an especially bright meteor. Other useful equipment is insect repellant in summer. A flashlight can be useful but be sure it has a red filter to avoid losing your dark adaptation when using it.

In general, we can see more meteors after midnight. Here is why. The earth is rotating as it moves through the dust trail of a comet. In the evening we are on the side of the earth that is shielded from the dust trail, but in the morning we are on the side of the earth that has rotating towards the dust trail. It's like driving through the rain: you always get more rain on the windshield than on the rear window.
(See Figure 5.)

Related Information International Meteor Organization International Astronomical Union Meteor Data Center

Moonless nights are best because the moon brightens the sky. With a full moon, the eye cannot become completely dark-adapted. Full adaptation takes about 20 minutes.

Source, including 2009 table of meteor showers:

http://geology.com/articles/meteor-shower.shtml

 

The 2009 Perseid meteor shower will peak between 1:30 PM and 4:00 PM EDT on August 12. This is during daylight hours but a smaller peak might occur at about 5:00 AM EDT, August 12.

Shooting in "available darkness" was tuff, the lake fog moved in around 1:00 a.m. I saw more action around 11:15 to 12:00 p.m. long streaks shooting across the sky,, just a guess 8 to 10 perfect meteors.

 Around 2:00 a.m. till dawn,,, the night sky had a ton of small zigs and jags just lasted about a blink of an eye.

I'm going out again tonight (on the lake) with two B.S.U. cheerleaders,,,, they needed a story for  what they did on Summer Vacation.  at my age I could't say no,,,,, I also needed a story about my summer of 2009 

There should be a book, Captain Jack's Wild (he wishes) Adventures. It would be most entertaining.

Great balls of fire

Last night was perfect,, we lost count after 68,,, many wern't counted because they were too small,,,,Too small,,, how many times did I hear that last night  The best one we saw skipped several times before it burnt out.

I'll have to do a B.S.U. "cheerleader shower" & "Perseid shower" thread after I get some sleep.