I’ve never seen a shooting star let alone caught the natural wonder of Perseid meteor showers. 2008’s my year to achieve a lifelong goal to see a meteor shower! I’ve tried before but either had city lights, clouds, or sleep get in the way.
According to StarDate “The next meteor shower is the Perseids on August 12, 2008. After the first-quarter moon sets, around 2 a.m., meteors should be more easily visible until dawn. You may see dozens of meteors per hour.”
Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center says: “The time to look is during the dark hours before dawn on Tuesday, August 12th. There should be plenty of meteors–perhaps one or two every minute.”
NASA’s 2008 Perseid Meteor Shower page reports:
“The source of the shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the comet is far away, currently located beyond the orbit of Uranus, a trail of debris from the comet stretches all the way back to Earth. Crossing the trail in August, Earth will be pelted by specks of comet dust hitting the atmosphere at 132,000 mph. At that speed, even a flimsy speck of dust makes a vivid streak of light when it disintegrates–a meteor!”
Can’t wait to hear reports of meteor magic.
