When and where is the best place to see a meteor shower in CA?

Question

Can anyone suggest a good place to see a meteor shower near Southern California, I dont wanna drive up anywhere too far. I also have a telescope will it help on seeing the showers or is it clear enough for the naked eye? Anything would help, thanks a lot!

You say anywhere away from city lights right? Is the beach okay? it's pretty dark out there...

so I should go watch at 12 am on august 12th?

Answer 1

Where in southern California are you? You could be anywhere from Ventura to San Diego! :)

Anywhere away from city lights will do. The farther/darker, the better. There's the Mojave desert (should be nice and cool at night), the San Gabriel mountains, Mt. Pinos, Joshua Tree, Mt. Laguna, Anza Borrego... lots of places... it just depends on where you are.

The Perseids are visible for a couple weeks surrounding the peak time but if you only have one night available, make it the night of August 12/13.

Do not use a telescope. Just get a lawn chair, face north east, and lean back. Meteors are small, fast, streaks of bright light. There's nothing to see through a telescope. If you're already looking at something through a telescope you may catch a meteor flying through the field of view (in a tiny fraction of a second), but there's no way you can use a telescope to spot and follow a meteor. Imagine someone throwing a pebble and you trying to find it and follow it with a telescope before it hits the ground... can't really be done.

-- EDIT --

Beaches in southern California are typically no good, astronomically speaking, because they're so developed and populated. Pretty much all the beaches between Ventura and San Diego suffer from light pollution. Stay away from the following especially: Seal, Huntington, Manhattan, Venice, Newport, Long Beach, Laguna). If you must go to the beach, your best bet is the area between Laguna and Oceanside or near Malibu where LA and Ventura counties meet. Another problem with beaches though is that there is a lot of moisture in the air and it has a similar effect as dust for light pollution. It scatters light and makes the skies appear brighter than they should. You're better off in drier places like the mountains and deserts (the combination of dry air and dark skies is always best when it comes to astronomy -- not to mention steady skies but that's not much of a concern for viewing a meteor shower).

If you can manage it, yes, view around midnight and later (till the sky starts brightening from the sun, if you can) on the evening of August 12 and 13 (Sunday into Monday).

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Meteor showers are best seen with the naked eye. I mean, you can use a telescope, but the area of sky you are looking at is about the size a quarter held at arms length. You'd be very lucky if you happen to catch a meteor streaking past your field of view.
Also, the bright lights of the city will seriously hamper your ability to see meteors. The beach is a good suggestion, but being that low in earth's atmosphere will also tend to hamper your view. The higher your elevation the better your viewing will be. Best thing to do is completely leave the city, if you can manage it, don't setup within at least a mile from the nearest light source (building, street lamp, headlight). Also, find a place that is devoid of trees, the desert is a good suggestion or up on the eastern slopes of the surrounding mountains (this meteor shower is best seen in the NE sky after midnight). Since the beach on the west coast is pretty much always west of civilization, that venue may not be the best place to sit (you'll be looking through the glow of city lights to see the shower). I hope this helps, good luck.

Answer 3

No telescope needed or even wanted. Just find the darkest place you can with the fewest trees and tall buildings blocking your view of the sky, get a blanket and lay on the ground or a lawn chair that lets you recline way back and just look at the sky. Give it at least half an hour before you give up. You may go many minutes without seeing a single meteor even at the peak of the shower. Viewing is usually better after midnight because that puts you on the "front" side of the Earth in its orbit. Looking for meteors in the early evening is like looking for bug splats on the back window of your car. The bugs usually splat on the windshield in front.

Answer 4

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