ACTIVE YEAR FOR PERSEIDS! - Don't Miss This One!

PERSEID METEORS PEAK THIS WEEK
BEST SHOW IN YEARS EXPECTED

Sleepyheads set your clocks for around 11p.m. local time on Wednesday night/Thursday morning this week, August 11-12.

The annual PERSEID meteor shower is peaking on that evening and morning and from all indications it should be the best show in years. Already, scores of meteors each hour have been recorded at ASO Petit Jean in pre-dawn hours emanating from the constellation of PERSEUS in the northeast sky after midnight.

Perseid meteors are typically very bright, swift and leave dramatic yellow or yellow-orange trails and this year's visitors have been no exception.

A very nice comprehensive Observing Guide has been posted at www.space.com at the link:
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/040806_perseid_guide.html

However, here is a quick overview for getting ready for this year's event.

This meteor shower, coming from the once-bright comet Swift-Tuttle, was discovered in 1862, the comet takes approximately 130 years to circle the Sun. With each pass fresh debris - most the size of sand grains up to grapefruit size - is left in the comet's wake, adding to the already-rich cloud of meteoroid material that the Earth can pass through.

Every year at this time, in the second week of August, the Earth passes close to the orbit of Swift-Tuttle, and this cloud of material runs into our atmosphere at approximately 37 miles per second (60 kps); the friction between the Earth's upper atmosphere and the rapidly-traveling particles creates heat and light and the phenomenon known as a "meteor" or what some people refer to as a "shooting star."

According to recent updated estimates, the Earth is predicted to cut through the densest part of the Perseid stream this week around 6 a.m. CDT on Thursday, Aug. 12. Activity could be very dramatic and intense for a few hours on either side of that time, particularly since so many meteors have already been seen in the two weeks up to this date.

Observers should be on the watch by the late-night hours of Wednesday, Aug. 11, and through the first light of dawn on the morning on the 12th when the RADIANT of the meteor shower will be very high in the northeast sky. Unlike 2003 when the bright light of a Full Moon washed out last year’s shower, this year will see the moon about 3½ days before NEW phase. Hence it will not rise until around 2:30 a.m. local time on the morning of the12th, beautifully poised to the east (below) of brilliant Venus.

WHY THIS YEAR IS SPECIAL
This year the Earth will pass through a major and dense deposited trail of debris shed by Comet Swift-Tuttle during its original 1862 visit. The closest that Earth will come to the center of this debris trail will be 123,000 miles (200,000 kilometers), about half the distance from the Earth to the moon....remarkable close!

Closest pass through this cloud will be around 4:45 local time on the morning of August 12.

Although in normal years the Perseids can bring as many as 60 or more bright meteors streaking through dark skies, this year holds perhaps more promise; indeed, we have logged about that number already a full week prior to peak at ASO Petit Jean, so the numbers might double or triple that amount on Thursday morning.

For a full review of the history and observing tips for this year's Perseid Meteor Shower, see the ASO ARCHIVES:
http://www.arksky.org/perseids.htm

Best of luck, clear skies, and remember to report your spectacular memories of this event to ASO via our Forums.

Clear skies and swift Perseids.....