The Perseid Meteor Shower:
A meteor is a fragment of dust, metal, or rock that produces
a flash of light as it is heated by friction during its encounter
with the earth's atmosphere. They come from all directions in
space and are usually the size of a grain of sand. Very bright
ones may be the size of a watermelon seed. Meteors are best seen
after midnight. On a clear night you may see 5 meteors per hour.
Sometimes, however, the earth passes through the orbit of an
old comet. The old comet left much debris in its orbit when it
passed around the sun. When the earth passes through this region
of space that is filled with old cometary dust, a spectacular
display called a meter shower is produced. The meteors appear
to come radially from one point in the sky called a radiant.
The name of a meteor shower comes from the constellation of the
radiant point. In August this is seen in the constellation Perseus,
located on the northern horizon under Cassiopeia around midnight.
The Perseid meteors are all descendants of Comet Swift-Tuttle,
a periodic comet. The Perseid showers will last up to 4 days
centered around its peak dates, August 12/13. You may see up
to 50 per hour. So take a blanket, soft music, and your loved
ones out at night to watch this amazing celestial spectacular.
You can get more details on the evening skies and a monthly star
chart via the Wyoming
Skies: Sky Charts For more information, send questions
and comments by e-mail to: Dr.
Ron Canterna (canterna@uwyo.edu).
Return to Wyoming Skies: Monthly Interests