You know it’s a good night when a beautiful alignment of planets is the second best thing that’s going to happen.
Thursday, August 12th, is such a night.
The show begins at sundown when Venus, Saturn, Mars and the crescent Moon pop out of the western twilight in tight conjunction. All four heavenly objects will fit within a circle about 10 degrees in diameter, beaming together through the dusky colors of sunset. No telescope is required to enjoy this naked-eye event: sky map.
The planets will hang together in the western sky until 10 pm or so. When they leave, following the sun below the horizon, you should stay, because that is when the Perseid meteor shower begins. From 10 pm until dawn, meteors will flit across the starry sky in a display that’s even more exciting than a planetary get-together.
The Perseid meteor shower is caused by debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Every 133 years the huge comet swings through the inner solar system and leaves behind a trail of dust and gravel. When Earth passes through the debris, specks of comet-stuff hit the atmosphere at 140,000 mph and disintegrate in flashes of light. These meteors are called Perseids because they fly out of the constellation Perseus.
Swift-Tuttle’s debris zone is so wide, Earth spends weeks inside it. Indeed, we are in the outskirts now, and sky watchers are already reporting a trickle of late-night Perseids. The trickle could turn into a torrent between August 11th and 13th when Earth passes through the heart of the debris trail.
2010 is a good year for Perseids because the Moon won’t be up during the midnight-to-dawn hours of greatest activity. Lunar glare can wipe out a good meteor shower, but that won’t be the case this time.
As Perseus rises and the night deepens, meteor rates will increase. For sheer numbers, the best time to look is during the darkest hours before dawn on Friday morning, Aug. 13th, when most observers will see dozens of Perseids per hour.
For best results, get away from city lights. The darkness of the countryside multiplies the visible meteor rate 3- to 10-fold. A good dark sky will even improve the planetary alignment, allowing faint Mars and Saturn to make their full contribution to the display. Many families plan camping trips to coincide with the Perseids. The Milky Way arching over a mountain campground provides the perfect backdrop for a meteor shower.
Enjoy the show!
Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
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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.
International Meteor Organization (IMO) http://www.imo.net/node/1295
Clear Skies!
The Perseid Meteors http://www.oarval.org/perseids.htm
Blasted California coastal marine layer! It will be a miracle if we can see any celestial objects after sundown. Foggiest year in recent memory. I do like watching planets too. . .
After a week of clear skies, predictions are for thickening clouds for the next 48 hrs. Never fails – when the skies are clear, the moon is too bright – when the moon is new, the clouds pour in. Grr.
John Michalski: Floating in the pool sounds like a great way to watch meteors! 🙂
In the northwest GA (US) mountainous pine forests the snugly-wrapped blanket is needed to add weight in the cot or lawn chair. (Makes the body inside the blanket too heavy for the mosquitoes to carry off …)
I don’t know, but this concrete is killing me. I sure hope I can see it so I can tell my great grandchildren one day I saw it with my one only. Oh and I saw my first shooting star!!
I saw quite a few last night…they were beautiful. I was wrapped up very thoroughly to withstand the cold on this night in High Summer in England (SW) but still had to retreat just after 1am as I was getting too cold. Lying on the concrete steps isn’t the best, but our loungers are defunct!
I also saw a few satellites (maybe one was a very high flying aircraft).
It brought back memories of lying on a dam wall in Victoria in Australia to see what was supposed to be a huge shower of meteors a few years ago. There weren’t many but there was one coloured stunner. We were frozen then too, but at least it was meant to be winter at the time!
Watched them the last two nights sitting on a dock on a lake in Maine, it was spectacular with an impressive backdrop of the Milky Way. It was in the 50s so the mosquitoes weren’t a problem either. 😉
We sat outside last night on a perfectly clear night until 4:00am and only saw 2 meteors. I guess we have way too much light pollution down here in S. Fla. Bummer and tired!