It is the middle of August and that means that the Perseids will be in full force over our skies this weekend, Aug. 11-12, 2018. Lucky Northern Hemisphere fans will get to what happens when Earth passes through the famous Swift-Tuttle comet and puts on the show of the summer. Thank you nearly new moon this year, tiny bits of debris enter our atmosphere traveling around 132,000 miles per hour and create the spectacular annual Perseid meteor shower.
To those savvy people who know where the constellation Perseus is, then you know exactly where to look. To the rest of us, get away from city lights and simply gaze to the North at least after 11:00 pm to catch 60-70 meteors per hour. For those super ambitious stargazers, the best time to catch the Perseids is before dawn between 3:00 and 5:00am. Sadly much of the West Coast will be deprived of the entertainment due to the wildfire smoke.
These gems will be shooting from every direction so as long as a dark place can be found, the sky will be lighting up with sparks from the mythical Greek hero, Perseus’ blade. Remember that mythical Greek hero who chopped off Medusa’s head? Good stuff.
Happy viewing!