Friday, August 5, 2011

Perseid Meteor Shower Overhead

The Perseid shower is the most dependable of the year, often producing upwards of 60 meteors per hour in the predawn sky. Unfortunately, the full moon arrives on August 13 this year and coincides with the expected peak. The good news is that you can still enjoy the shower in a moonless morning sky for the next five days starting today. Finding the darkest sky possible is a key element to enjoying the Perseids this year. Today, observers are reporting about 20 meteors per hour.

Viewing is easy. If the night is clear, take a lounge chair or blanket and bug spray outside between midnight and dawn and look into the northeast sky. In that sky, you'll see a lopsided "W" known as the constellation Cassiopeia, an easy marker for its neighbor, Perseus. As you might guess, the meteors radiate from this point, but it's important to note that they may occur anywhere in the sky dome. Furthermore, you will likely see some random meteors that will not fit the pattern. Don't bother with a telescope, but you may enjoy binoculars for exploring deeper into space when the meteor watch gets a tad boring.

This link at EarthSky may be helpful.



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