If your kids are anything like mine, they love to look at the stars. But a meteor shower is something they’ve yet to experience.
What if you could guarantee that your kids would get to see one…possibly up to 60 meteors an hour? As long as the weather cooperates, you very well could. The hourly rate on a "non-shower" night is approximately 6 meteors per hour. On this night, it could be as high as 68 per hour during peak time! The best time for viewing will be after midnight, but meteors should be visible earlier.
So, what exactly is a Perseid Meteor shower? It's an annual meteor shower named after the constellation Perseus. Debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle is where the meteors come from. When the Earth passes through the debris cloud that is left by the comet in the Earth’s atmosphere, we get to see “falling stars!”
Did you know meteors are no larger than a pea? They appear as such a brilliant light because they travel at speeds of 71 kilometers per second. Did you know meteors become visible at an average height of 55 miles and nearly all burn up before they reach an altitude of 50 miles? Most visible meteors lie within 120 miles of an observer, however, no known meteorite has been associated with a meteor shower.
So, when can you see this? Thursday, August 12th – 13th are the peak dates this year. You should be able to see them beginning around 8:30pm on the 12th, and they will become more frequent into the early am before daylight. Reports are already touting this year’s meteor shower as a great one. As there are some reports of 15 meteors per hour showering down already!
So, pack a snack, a blanket and some chairs. Head away from the lights and look towards the northeast sky. Make this an annual event your kids will not forget. (Just don’t stay out too late – it’s a school night!).
Information obtained from Astronomy.com, for more information, CLICK HERE.
