| Salt Lake Tribune | - |
When
John Denver sang about seeing it rain fire in the sky in the Rocky
Mountains, he was referencing the Perseid meteor shower, which will
grace the skies through the weekend, peaking on the night of Aug. 12.
(Petros Giannakouris | The Associated
Press)
In this photo taken with long shutter speed, a meteor sparks while
entering the earth's atmosphere behind an olive tree during the Perseids
Meteor Shower, in Fanos village, central Greece, on Saturday. The
Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet
Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids shower is visible from mid-July each year,
with the peak in activity being between Aug. 9 and 14 depending on the
particular location of the stream.
Perseid meteor shower to peak Monday night
Perseids » Celestial event brings brightest light show of the year.
By Sheena McFarland
| The Salt Lake Tribune
When John Denver sang about seeing it
rain fire in the sky in the Rocky Mountains, he was referencing the
Perseid meteor shower, which will grace the skies through the weekend,
peaking on the night of Aug. 12.
The Perseids, the meteoroids of which come
from a trail left by the Swift-Tuttle comet, generally produce one of
the best meteor showers of the year, and often produce the most
fireballs — the meteors that are as bright as the planets Jupiter and
Venus, according to Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.
"Get away from city lights," Cooke said. "While
fireballs can be seen from urban areas, the much greater number of
faint Perseids is visible only from the countryside."
However, meteor showers can be fickle, and even
frequent producers such as the Perseids require patience, cautions
Patrick Wiggins, NASA solar system ambassador to Utah.
"Even a really good meteor shower has one or
maybe two meteors a minute," Wiggins said. "And some of those might be a
faint wisp and some of those might be a giant fireball. But don’t go
out and just spend 15 minutes. Spend at least an hour watching the sky."
The best times to watch are between midnight
and dawn, and viewers can look at the northern half of the sky, but
there isn’t one particular area to watch, Wiggins said.
Wiggins also emphasized the importance of
getting out of the city light pollution and heading out to the salt
flats or up Emigration Canyon.
Clouds should lighten up on Saturday and Sunday
nights, said Mike Conger, meteorologist for the National Weather
Service, but visibility on Monday and Tuesday could be difficult.
All the more reason to grab some friends, some snacks and a few comfy lawn chairs and blankets this weekend, Wiggins said.
"Make it a party, and remember — location, location, location," Wiggins said.
end quote from:
No comments:
Post a Comment