Meteor shower may be truly stellar

The annual Perseid meteor shower, which will bombard Earth the night of Aug. 12-13, may be one of the most spectacular in years.

Patrick Wiggins, NASA solar system ambassador to Utah, pointed out that the shower's peak will coincide with the new moon, when no moonlight is present. Light pollution of any kind, even from the moon, tends to wash out the dimmer meteors.

"Anytime that you want to see the maximum number of meteors, you want to have as dark a sky as possible," Wiggins said. That requires getting away from city lights as much as possible.

The best show should happen after midnight, when "you're actually facing the oncoming swarm" of tiny bits of ice and dust, he said.

The debris was left in the path of Comet Swift-Tuttle when it rounded the sun on one of its orbits. The material hangs in space until Earth happens to intersect the comet's path, when a blizzard of cometary bits will strike the atmosphere and burn up.

While not dangerous, the fireworks can be an amazing light show in the sky. Sometimes large fireballs leave behind a smoky trail from dust particles burning in the upper atmosphere.

It's tough to stay up all night or rise at 2 a.m. But the dedicated will "get out of town, get away from light pollution and observe after midnight," he said.

A few Perseid meteors have already flashed through the heavens, and more will come as the peak approaches. "But during that magic couple of hours," Wiggins said, "that's when you can get a big spike in activity."

Two to three meteors per minute may be visible. They will streak at various angles, generally seeming to originate near the constellation Perseus.

To enjoy them, simply lie back on a lawn chair or sleeping bag and look up, Wiggins added. "Basically, these things will call attention to themselves."

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