The activity graph below is updated every 15 minutes - click for details.

The Perseids are one of the most exciting and dynamic meteor showers; producing fast-moving shooting stars throughout July and August. Based on IMO observations from recent years, we expect the "normal" peak of ~100 meteors per hour to occur in the night of August 12-13 between 18h and 7h Universal Time.

The shower surprised on several occasions over the last two decades by showing outbursts of 150 to 400+ meteors/hour due to the Earth passing through regions of higher density in the dust stream (e.g., ZHR ~200 last year). Simulations by Jeremie Vaubaillon and Mikhail Maslov indicate that we may again encounter 'dust trails' this year, left behind when the parent comet passed the Sun in the years 441, 1479 and 1862. Unfortunately, the distance to the nearest trails is expected to be somewhat larger than last year, and their timing is thought to favour only regions around the Pacific Ocean. However, the predictions are uncertain and worldwide observations by amateur astronomers are required during all nights near the maximum to verify and improve the models.

New Moon on August 10 creates perfect conditions to observe the shower. Perseids are best observed after local midnight, when the radiant gains altitude in the sky. In fact, highest rates are visible towards the early morning hours when the radiant reaches its highest point. We strongly encourage visual observations to be made according to the standard procedure and submitted through the online report form. Such observations will automatically be included in the ZHR activity graph below (click for more results).

Activity graph below is updated every 15 minutes - click for details.

The June issue of the IMO Journal is now in print. It will be posted shortly and subscribers can also immediately access the journal in PDF format. The contents this month:

• Editorial (J. Kac)
• Douglas Orson ReVelle (1945 - 2010) (P. Brown)
• Two New Letters by Denning (M. Beech)
• Meteors in Australian Aboriginal Dreamings (D.W. Hamacher, R.P. Norris)
• What is the difference between image intensifier and CCD meteor observations? I. CCD and image intensifier observations in Japan (M. Koseki, M. Ueda, Y. Shigeno)
• Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - March 2010 (S. Molau, J. Kac)
• Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - April 2010 (S. Molau, J. Kac)

Instructions for writing an article for WGN may be found in "Authors, Writing for WGN" (167KB PDF).

Cheap places in the shared accommodation for the International Meteor Conference 2010 are rapidly filling, and are expected to be sold out in the course of June. Interested participants are advised to register very soon.

Private rooms in one of the (more expensive) hotels in Armagh are still readily available, but early registration is recommended to ensure your place in the lecture room (capacity: 120 seats).

The April issue of the IMO Journal is now in print. It will be posted shortly and subscribers can also immediately access the journal in PDF format. The contents this month:

• Editorial - fireballs and meteorites (J. Kac)
• Meteor Beliefs Project: Seven years and counting (A. McBeath, G.J. Drobnock, A.D. Gheorghe)
• Analysis of the SonotaCo video meteoroid orbits (P. Veres, J. Toth)
• SPA Meteor Section Results: 2005 (A. McBeath)
• Searching for meteor ELF/VLF signatures (J. Rault)
• Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - January 2010 (S. Molau, J. Kac)
• Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - February 2010 (S. Molau, J. Kac)

Instructions for writing an article for WGN may be found in "Authors, Writing for WGN" (167KB PDF).

We are often short of photographs for the WGN covers that we publish in colour (front cover) or black & white (back cover). If you think you have an exciting meteor-related photograph, please offer it to us. You can send your photos to wgn(at)imo.net, but remember to put `Meteor' in the subject line to get round the anti-spam filters.

The Lyrids are expected to peak on 2010 April 22 around 17h UT (ZHR ~20). Past observations have shown the maximum time to be variable from year to year; in 2010 the peak could occur between 9h and 21h UT on April 22, but observations in the days before and after the peak are also worthwile. The radiant of this shower, between Lyra and Hercules, rises during the night. Watches can be usefully carried out from about 22h30m local time onwards from mid-northern sites, but only from well after midnight from the mid-southern hemisphere. On April 22, the waxing gibbous Moon will set between 1h and 2h UT for most northern sites. More information about this shower can be found in the 2010 Shower Calendar.

Visual observations can be reported through the Report Form and are highly appreciated. The observations are automatically included in an automated ZHR graph.