Good idea for a friendly challenge?

[Guest]

Of course, we have to assume that everyone is being honest here, as there is no way to verify reports. Even a photograph can be taken at a different date.

 

My idea is to compete for the first and last Perseid each year.

 

I saw my first this year at 2239 GMT on August 4th.

 

Graham can donate a 9999mm APO refractor.

[Perkil8r]

There's no way of knowing if it's a true Perseid or just a sporadic. Nice thought but fundamentally flawed.

[Guest]

Good point but if you are sure whether the origin is near the expected radiant, it's pretty certain it is  real Perseid. I saw a recent photo where the meteor definitely did not originate from the radiant but was claimed as a Perseid. I quite often notice sporadics when attempting to record showers and I've also seen "reverse Perseids" that travel towards the radiant, obviously sporadics.