Start Perseid meteor-watching the weekend of August 8
A Perseid Meteor amidst the Northern Lights. Photo:
Jimmy Westlake (Colorado Mountain College)
See a larger version of this image.
Friday, August 8, 2008
In the northern hemisphere, the best sky event of summer is often the Perseid meteor shower.
And this weekend the Perseid shower will be building to a peak. The shower is expected to be at its best during the few hours before dawn this coming Tuesday and Wednesday mornings – August 12 and 13. But Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings -in the wee hours before dawn – you might also see some Perseid meteors, if you’re standing under a clear dark country sky.
The Perseid shower builds over some days to a peak and then drops off rapidly afterwards. This weekend, the meteor rates will probably be around a quarter to a half of what they’ll be on the peak mornings of August 12 and 13. Whichever night you choose to watch the Perseids, the greatest number of meteors tend to fall between midnight and dawn.
The Perseid shower is named after the constellation Perseus, because these meteors seem to stream from this part of the sky. But you don’t need to find Perseus to watch these fast, bright meteors streaking across the heavens. Simply find a dark, open sky and look upward from a comfortable reclining position. Give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adapt to the dark and give yourself a good hour to view the Perseids, summertime’s best meteor shower. By the way, Perseid meteors are visible now from the southern hemisphere, too, but the shower is more modest in that part of the globe.
With access to a dark, open sky, people in the northern hemisphere are likely to see a few to several dozen meteors per hour. From the southern hemisphere, the Perseids may peak at about one dozen meteors an hour.
;)