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(meteorobs) PERSEID SHOOTING STARS MAKE A SPLASH OVERHEAD THIS WEEKEND




Here's a short, news-ready article about the Perseid peak this weekend.
Please forward (with by-line intact) to anyone who may be interested...

Clear skies!
Lew Gramer

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"PERSEID SHOOTING STARS MAKE A SPLASH OVERHEAD THIS WEEKEND"

By:
Lew Gramer, North American Meteor Network, http://www.namnmeteors.org
Material also provided by Cathy Hall, North American Meteor Network

Stargazers all over the world will enjoy a treat this weekend, as the
annual "Perseid meteor shower" blesses our skies with many a shooting
star. Falling stars are really tiny bits of dust ("interplanetary dust
bunnies" as some astronomers call them) left behind by a comet which
scientists call Comet Swift-Tuttle. "Swift-Tuttle" orbits our Sun the
same way that the Earth and other planets and comets do... But unlike
the Earth, which takes exactly one year to go all the way around its
orbit, this Comet only comes around the Sun once every 120 years!

"Swift-Tuttle" was last seen in the skies of Earth in the mid-1990s.
However, the debris left trailing behind the Comet continues to rain
down on Earth each year at this time, bringing us the lovely Perseid
shower. (A Perseid falling star is not really a star, of course! They
occur when a dust particle hits the Earth's atmosphere at over 130,000
miles an hour, destroying itself and making a bright flash of light.)

The Perseids are an annual shower, which has been noted by traditional
peoples around the globe for nearly 2000 years. The annals of ancient
China first record their appearance in 36 AD! In Medieval Europe they
were often called "the tears of Saint Lawrence", because their time of
greatest activity (their "peak nights") happened to occur back then on
the Feast Day of that martyred Catholic Saint. An Eskimo tribe once
believed that these meteors were the "droppings" of star animals!


We modern watchers can share in this 2000 year experience, too, just
by going outside after 11pm any clear night this weekend, and looking
up at the sky! In order to get the best possible view of the Perseids,
all you need are three things: comfort, darkness, and an open sky. To
see the shower, it is best to watch as late in the night as possible,
and to stay out under the sky for at least ten or fifteen minutes. If
you try standing up for that length of time, you will get a crick in
your neck! So your first piece of "observing equipment" should be a
reclining lawn chair, chaise, or even a ground pad and sleeping bag.

Second, many of the Perseid meteors are bright, flashing streaks, and
they are also known for leaving behind lovely, ghostly "afterimages"
(known as "persistent trains"). However, even though many are bright,
many more of these lovely streaks will be quite faint! So second on
your "meteor checklist" is getting out someplace where there are no
streetlights, porchlights, or city "skyglow" shining in your eyes.
And be sure to face AWAY from the bright moon while you watch! (Keep
in mind that the Perseids scatter themselves equally around the sky.)

Last and most important, put yourself in a place where you can view
the whole sky if possible. (You may want to use a building or a car to
shield yourself from the moon, however!) And don't forget - go out as
LATE as you can, any clear night from August 10 to August 13.

Remember, the stars are there for all of us, so enjoy the show!

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