Perseid Meteor Shower, Aug 11-12th, 2012

ScienceChic
Topic Author
Mountain Champion

09 Aug 2012 10:49 #1 by ScienceChic

Perseid Meteor Shower, Aug 11-12th, 2012 was created by ScienceChic

From The Universe's Facebook page

EarthSky’s meteor shower guide for 2012
Bruce McClure and Deborah Byrd
Aug 09, 2012

The peak mornings will be August 11, 12 and 13. August 12 might be the best morning. August 11 might be better than August 13. The moon is waning now. And many people are seeing meteors!

Promising Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks on Sunday
by Geoff Gaherty, Starry Night Education
Date: 08 August 2012

The Perseid meteors appear to radiate from a point between the constellations Perseus and Cassiopeia, in the northeastern section of the sky. The 2012 Perseid meteor shower display peaks on Aug. 12.
CREDIT: Starry Night Software

Any night this week you will have a good chance of seeing the annual Perseid meteor shower. These objects are tiny bits of rock and debris from an old comet, which is named Swift-Tuttle after the astronomers who discovered it in 1862.

Every year in early August, Earth passes through the comet Swift-Tuttle's orbit and sweeps up some of this debris. As the tiny rocks encounter the thin upper atmosphere of the Earth, the air is heated to incandescence and we see a rapid streak of light.

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ScienceChic
Topic Author
Mountain Champion

11 Aug 2012 14:44 #2 by ScienceChic

Replied by ScienceChic on topic Perseid Meteor Shower, Aug 11-12th, 2012

This one will be extra-special thanks to the alignment of the crescent moon, Jupiter, and Venus (see video below for detailed explanation)! Also, there's an app from NASA that you can download for free - if you are going to be counting how many meteors/hour, you can send them your data to help them with their regional tallies - wicked cool!