Weather Permitting: Watch Year’s Best Meteor Shower Tonight

August 12, 2010

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If the weather cooperates, you can look skyward in the North Escambia area tonight for the year’s best celestial fireworks show.

Tonight is the peak viewing night for the Perseid Meteor Shower. With no clouds and a dark viewing location, you can see a meteor every two to three minutes, especially from midnight until dawn, according to Dr. Wayne Wooten, Pensacola State College astronomer. They will seem to come out of the constellation Perseus, rising in the northeast just before midnight.

If you miss tonight’s meteor show, the Perseid Meteor Shower will continue through August 24.

Astronomers say it will be a good show as earth passes through a swarm of dust shed by periodic comet Swift-Tuttle.

“Earthgrazers are meteors that approach from the horizon and skim the atmosphere overhead like a stone skipping across the surface of a pond,” explains Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “They are long, slow and colorful—among the most beautiful of meteors.” He notes that an hour of watching may net only a few of these at most, but seeing even one can make the whole night worthwhile.

Pictured top: Looking northeast around midnight Tuesday, the red dot is the Perseid radiant. Although Perseid meteors can appear in any part of the sky, all of their tails will point back to the radiant. Image courtesy NASA and Spaceweather.com.

Comments

3 Responses to “Weather Permitting: Watch Year’s Best Meteor Shower Tonight”

  1. Marjory on August 12th, 2015 8:35 pm

    Looking forward to seeing it to night.

  2. College Mommy on August 13th, 2010 5:09 pm

    I saw a couple of them. It was so neat!!! I sure made alot of wishes :<)

  3. brannon on August 12th, 2010 11:42 pm

    sweet just saw one

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News