If Mother Nature cooperates, we’ll be treated to quite the show in the sky this weekend!
And, if everything comes together just right, this year’s show may be more impressive than normal.
Each year, Earth passes through the dust that the Comet Swift-Tuttle left behind. The last time the comet passed within eye sight of Earth was in 1992. Despite this, the comet left behind a trail of dust that the Earth passes through each year, around this time. This dust, when entering our atmosphere, burns up and creates the meteors you see during the shower.
Each year, the Perseid is one of the most spectacular shows of the year. Some years, the shower produces up to 200 meteors per hour! This year, calculations point to somewhere between sixty to eighty meteors per hour. Still, an impressive show!
Viewing of this year’s show may be aided by the fact that the moon will be in a crescent. The lack of light given off by a bigger moon will help sky watchers see more meteors.
There is a fly in the ointment, so to speak… Our forecast. We’re watching our rain chances starting to increase this weekend. Saturday afternoon will feature scattered showers and storms. That trend continues Sunday and Monday.
For the rest of this story: ABC 13