An artist's depiction of a shooting star. Look out for meteors of all sizes during the shower this month!
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of Corel Photography
Make a wish on a shooting star! It's time for the Perseid meteor shower!
News story originally written on August 8, 2002
This year's Perseid meteor shower will peak August 12th and 13th, 2002, and will be visible throughout the Northern Hemisphere where you may be able to see hundreds of meteors per hour!
When is the best time to see the meteors? Look for them in cloudless skies after two a.m. and before the sun begins to rise. They will be shooting through the northeast part of the sky. The meteors will be most noticeable to people in Europe on August 13. North Americans can see the most meteors on either August 12th or 13th.
Earlier in the evening, at 9 or 10 pm, you might be able to see Earthgrazers, meteors that streak slowly and colorfully through the atmosphere near the horizon.
Perseid meteoroids are little pieces of the comet Swift-Tuttle. This comet has a lot of dusty debris that travels with it. The grains of dust form a cloud that the Earth speeds through every year at about this time. They may be tiny, but these dust particles can make some amazingly bright streaks of colorful light through the night sky!
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
Our
online store includes
issues of NESTA's quarterly journal, The Earth Scientist, full of classroom activities on different topics in Earth and space science, as well as
books on science education!
You might also be interested in:
It was another exciting and frustrating year for the space science program. It seemed that every step forward led to one backwards. Either way, NASA led the way to a great century of discovery. Unfortunately,
...more
The Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 2:19 p.m. EST, October 29th. The sky was clear and the weather was great as Discovery took 8 1/2 minutes to reach orbit for the Unitied
...more
A moon was discovered orbiting the asteroid, Eugenia. This is only the second time in history that a satellite has been seen circling an asteroid. A special mirror allowed scientists to find the moon
...more
Will Russia ever put the service module for the International Space Station in space? NASA officials are demanding an answer from the Russian government. The necessary service module is currently waiting
...more
During a period of about two days in early May, 1998, the ACE spacecraft was immersed in plasma associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME). The SWICS instrument on ACE, which determines unambiguously
...more
J.S. Maini of the Canadian Forest Service has referred to forests as the "heart and lungs of the world." Forests reduce soil erosion, maintain water quality, contribute to atmospheric humidity and cloud
...more
In late April through mid-May 2002, all five naked-eye planets are visible simultaneously in the night sky! This is includes Mercury which is generally very hard to see because of its proximity to the
...more
