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August 12th: The 2005 Perseid Meteor Shower

 
 
Reply Fri 12 Aug, 2005 08:29 am
The 2005 Perseid Meteor Shower

Mars joins the Perseid meteor shower for a beautiful display on August 12th.

Got a calendar? Circle this date: Friday, August 12th. Next to the circle write "before sunrise" and "Meteors!" Attach all of the above to your refrigerator in plain view so you won't miss the 2005 Perseid meteor shower.

The Perseids come every year, beginning in late July and stretching into August. Sky watchers outdoors at the right time can see colorful fireballs, occasional outbursts and, almost always, long hours of gracefully streaking meteors. Among the many nights of the shower, there is always one night that is best. This year: August 12th.

Right: A colorful Perseid streaks over Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. Photo credit: Dirk Obudzinski, August 12, 2004. [gallery]

The source of the shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the comet is nowhere near Earth, the comet's wide tail does intersect Earth's orbit. We glide through it every year in July and August. Tiny bits of comet dust hit Earth's atmosphere traveling 132,000 mph. At that speed, even a tiny smidgen of dust makes a vivid streak of light--a meteor--when it disintegrates. The shower is most intense when Earth is in the dustiest part of the tail.

Perseid meteors fly out of the constellation Perseus, hence their name. The best time to watch is during the hours before sunrise when Perseus is high in the sky: sky map. Between 2 a.m. and dawn on August 12th, if you get away from city lights, you could see hundreds of meteors. Scouts, this is a good time to go camping!

Really, it could hardly be better. The Perseids come on a warm summer night. (Note: This is a northern hemisphere shower.) Other familiar meteor showers like the Leonids of November require a parka to enjoy. All you need for Perseids are light pajamas.

And there's a bonus: Mars.

In the constellation Aries, right beside Perseus, Mars is shining like a bright red star. Step outside before sunrise, look east, and you'll find you have a hard time taking your eyes off Mars. There's something bewitching about it, maybe the red color or perhaps the fact that it doesn't twinkle like a true star. It's steady. You stare at Mars and it stares right back.

Earth and Mars are converging for a close encounter on October 30th. Consider August 12th a preview. Mars already outshines every star in the night sky, and it's getting brighter every night. If you like August, you'll love October.

And you will like August. Picture this: It's four in the morning. The sky is dark. The breeze is pleasant. Mars is beaming down from the east while meteors flit across the sky.

Maybe you should go circle the calendar again.
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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 380 • Replies: 8
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Merry Andrew
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Aug, 2005 03:30 pm
Duly noted (and circled). Thx, BBB.
0 Replies
 
farmerman
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Aug, 2005 03:35 pm
BBB, If your note was correctly dated, your advice is remindful of how my wife gives me directions on turning.
You should have turned back there"
0 Replies
 
Intrepid
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Aug, 2005 03:38 pm
I'm late, I'm late for a very important date.
0 Replies
 
BumbleBeeBoogie
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Aug, 2005 04:06 pm
Farmerman
Farmerman, the first paragraph indicates it's today, August 12th. I got the info from the NASA site, so I assume it is correct.

BBB
0 Replies
 
roger
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Aug, 2005 05:51 pm
Skies are black and it's raining like crazy. Should I stay up anyway?
0 Replies
 
Merry Andrew
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Aug, 2005 09:36 pm
Uh...yes...but 4 a.m. on the 12th was quite some time ago,no? Will we see anything on the 13th?
0 Replies
 
Intrepid
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Aug, 2005 09:50 pm
SOURCE
0 Replies
 
BumbleBeeBoogie
 
  1  
Reply Mon 15 Aug, 2005 08:46 am
film of shower 8/13
Watch a film of the actual shower taken 8/13:

http://www.astromeeting.de/atmospheric/050812perseids_ani.htm
0 Replies
 
 

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