Headed up to the park this weekend? Stay up late and watch the Perseid meteor shower. The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to be at its best this year, producing one or two meteors per minute during its peak hours Sunday night and early Monday morning.
Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the path of a comet. This year the Earth is predicted to cut through the densest part of the Perseid stream around 11pm Sunday night.
Normally the brightness of the moon makes viewing the Perseid’s difficult but the moon will be in a “new moon” phase on Sunday providing for excellent viewing opportunities throughout the western United States.
Don’t worry if you’re not going to be in the park on Sunday night though, meteors are usually visible the night before and after the main shower but not in the same quantities.
Photo by Dirk Obudzinski via NASA.gov.
Thanks for the info. Sarah.