NORTH SOUND — The summer months offer a great time to view the night sky. Right now is prime time to view the very popular Perseid meteor shower.
According to NASA, Earth’s rotation around the sun carries the planet through the Perseids meteor stream each year during the period of about July 17 through August 24.
The peak period to see the meteor shower though occurs during the period of August 11 through 14.
With the exception of Wednesday night, the weather this week and the coming weekend is expected to offer mainly clear skies during nighttime hours, allowing great viewing of the meteor shower commonly known as the Perseids after sundown. The best time to see the surge of meteors in the night sky is between midnight and dawn.
No special equipment is needed. Just find a wide-open sky and even better, away from city lights. Allow time for your eyes to adapt to the dark. Perseid meteors start to be seen hitting the planet’s atmosphere in the mid-to-late evening hours, peaking toward dawn.
In a dark sky, up to 100 meteors per hour can be seen. Hang in there for at least an hour since the meteors tend to come in spurts interspersed with lulls.
The History
The Perseid meteors are traced to the constellation Perseus, in honor of Perseus the Hero. In ancient Greek star lore, Perseus is the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Danaë. The Perseid shower commemorates the time when Zeus visited Danaë, the mother of Perseus, in a shower of gold. Quite the love story!
There is no threat of the meteors reaching the earth’s surface. The meteors are quite small and burn up about 60 miles above earth’s surface, leaving wonderful streaks of light across the dark sky.
Enjoy viewing this annual night sky spectacle – the Perseid meteor shower.
