If you need to look up the lat / long for the applet to figure out the schedule where you are at: this is a decent lookup.
posted by bigmusic at 10:18 PM on August 27, 2007

gosh darn it, I'm already going to be up in the middle of the night this week for the eclipse.
posted by oneirodynia at 10:41 PM on August 27, 2007

Lunar eclipses and meteor showers all in the same night sky?

Awesome.

The bad part of me wants to find some public space and wait for the heavenly shit to begin, so that I can point the sky and start screaming;

"Holy fuck! It's the Rapture! Run! Run for your lives!"
posted by quin at 11:01 PM on August 27, 2007

Awesome indeed.

So cool that this thread crashed metafilter.

What was lame was that lame java applet on the seti site.

Lame because is lists four minor Australian cities, yet not Melbourne and Sydney. So I presume the aurigids are only available in places cable isn't.
posted by mattoxic at 11:22 PM on August 27, 2007

I am either really tired and/or stupid: the closest major city is St. Louis, but what time does that mean I need to be out gawking at the sky? Am I just missing the answer?
posted by the_royal_we at 12:18 AM on August 28, 2007

Total lunar eclipse tonight, down under :)

2 1/2 hours until we enter the "total" phase...
posted by UbuRoivas at 12:21 AM on August 28, 2007

the_royal_we: If your closest major city is St. Louis then you need to be looking for the info for Central Daylight Time (i.e. the eclipse will begin at 3:51 a.m. and end at 7:24 a.m. your time)... I'm not sure about the timetable for the meteor shower because the site linked in the FPP won't open for me. *sad face*
posted by amyms at 12:51 AM on August 28, 2007

Total Lunar Eclipse, starting at TWO FUCKING THIRTY IN THE MORNING, Mountain time.

I'm going to regret tomorrow.
posted by dirigibleman at 1:27 AM on August 28, 2007

Woot!!!
The moon looks like a half red half clear throat lozenger right now in Sydney.
posted by ItsaMario at 3:06 AM on August 28, 2007

IT'S GOING ON NOW! YOU'RE MISSING IT, JACKASS!

I went out on a trail in the middle of the woods to watch it. Luckily, the trail is well trodden, because I forgot that the moon gets dark during an eclipse. Also a coyote walked near me.

Now I have to go to work in four hours.
posted by dirigibleman at 3:18 AM on August 28, 2007

Good. Damned dirty meteors.
posted by Eideteker at 4:00 AM on August 28, 2007

I did the opposite of dirigibleman. I forgot that the sun is bright at 6:30 AM. Also no coyotes walked near me.
posted by bink at 7:31 AM on August 28, 2007

50 pictures (this might be my favorite) and 2 hours of sleep later, and I'm pretty much useless today.

And wow. According to that applet, the Perseids peaked at around 50/hour where I was, and these are supposed to peak at 160? I can't even imagine that. Looks like I'll be dragging myself out of bed on Friday night...what a month!

Thanks bigmusic!
posted by natabat at 8:40 AM on August 28, 2007

Also a coyote walked near me.

Well, I'm jealous. We stood outside on the sidewalk and a bum rifled through the recycling bin, but that was it. The eclipse was quite pretty, though.

Oh wait, the paperman said "good morning", but I imagine that would happen any night we were out at three am. I think we'll have to go a bit more remote for the aurigids, though- maybe we'll get to see some actual wildlife along with the meteors.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:29 AM on August 28, 2007

Could the major astronomical events not all happen in one week, please? I might be caught up on my sleep from watching the eclipse by Friday, when I know I am going to want to get out of the city to see the meteors. Then I get to get up early, early On Saturday. No rest for the weary sky-viewer!

natabat:I used it as an opportunity to try taking nighttime sky photos myself. Here's the best I ended up with.
posted by Orb at 10:27 AM on August 28, 2007

Thanks for posting this. My wife and I checked out the lunar eclipse this morning. Forgot how cool that is. Now that I know about the Aurigids, I'll try to talk her into staying up for them, too.
posted by cog_nate at 10:54 AM on August 28, 2007

I love meteors and I appreciate the heads-up, but I'm getting a "peak" of 7.2 meteors per hour. I'm not sure that's worth the effort.
posted by spock at 1:16 PM on August 28, 2007

Make sure you use Aug 31-1 for the date. I'm gettin 160/min in a very, very sharp peak.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:21 PM on August 28, 2007

amyms: thanking you! I will try that tonight when I am not so tired.
posted by the_royal_we at 12:13 AM on August 29, 2007