Perseid meteor shower to light up night sky this weekend

[flowers]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2013/08/08/perseids-2013-meteor/2628521/

Put out the lawn chair, set the alarm and maybe bring something to wet your whistle while you gaze into the nighttime sky — the year's best shooting star show has started.

August's annual Perseids meteor shower peaks Sunday and Monday, promising perhaps 70 meteors an hour those evenings.

"The Perseids are the good ones," says meteorite expert Bill Cooke of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

The Perseids take their name from their apparent origin in the constellation Perseus, the hero of ancient Greek myth born from a shower of heavenly gold. Known for producing fireballs that might streak across a third of the sky, they owe their brilliance to the speed — nearly 134,000 mph — with which they smack into the upper atmosphere. "It's also because of the size of the meteors," Cooke says. The dust grains are about one-fifth of an inch across and burn nicely as they zip overhead.

Those dust grains come courtesy of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which circles the sun once every 133 years and leaves behind a debris trail. (Comets are basically dirty snowballs that develop tails when they approach the sun and start to melt. Different ones are responsible for other regular meteor showers, such as April's Lyrids, brought by Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, and November's Leonids brought by Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle.)

You will have to stay up late to see the Perseids at their peak; the best viewing comes from midnight to dawn, particularly after the half-full moon sets at 1 a.m. on Monday, says Astronomy magazine's Michael Bakich. But they should appear at night during the week before and after the peak as well.

[Rapunzel]

When we have a new moon like now or even better a dark of the moon night they are amazing.. we always used to go to Lake Powell this week in August and the trip in 2002 was dark of moon and we had a hard time going to sleep so fascinating was it watching the sky...we also saw a meteorite come right toward us and explode in a brilliant light as it flamed out.

[happyg]

My son bought his son a nice telescope for Christmas. I didn't know that, and bought my son a big one, that is too heavy for me. I also don't know how to use it. I use the smaller one, and saw Saturn with the rings. It was awesome. I also saw the craters on the moon. I should have gotten interested in the universe a long time ago. It's fascinating. When I was a kid, I used to lay in the backyard and watch the stars. Now, it seems there aren't so many stars showing up.

[Rapunzel]

My son bought his son a nice telescope for Christmas. I didn't know that, and bought my son a big one, that is too heavy for me. I also don't know how to use it. I use the smaller one, and saw Saturn with the rings. It was awesome. I also saw the craters on the moon. I should have gotten interested in the universe a long time ago. It's fascinating. When I was a kid, I used to lay in the backyard and watch the stars. Now, it seems there aren't so many stars showing up.

Come visit me.. we have tons of stars.. streetlights are not allowed here.

[happyg]

Come visit me.. we have tons of stars.. streetlights are not allowed here.

I'd love to visit Arizona. A lot of retired folks from around here go there. I have an Internet friend who lives in Sonoma. With Mom living in Florida, and my son living in NY, I'll never get the chance to go west again.

[Rapunzel]

I'd love to visit Arizona. A lot of retired folks from around here go there. I have an Internet friend who lives in Sonoma. With Mom living in Florida, and my son living in NY, I'll never get the chance to go west again.

I love Sedona...it's magical.  Pretty much love Arizona, I'll take the heat over earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, snow and massive floods.