Mid July and August Bring Light Show to Wide Open High Sierra Sky
When it comes to California Meteor Showers the Perseid Meteor Shower usually puts on the best show of the year, unless there is a full moon.
A new moon with the darkest conditions offers the best viewing of meteor showers. It’s best to obtain a calendar with notations of full moon and new moon, as well as major holidays, so you can plan your outings around the night sky and three day weekends.
The Perseid Meteor Shower appears to radiate from the constellation of Perseus. Meteors are usually observed starting in mid-July. with peak observations occuring in mid-August.
The meteors are debris of the comet Swift-Tuttle. At its peak, the shower produces 60 or more meteors per hour and sometimes the Perseid Shower produces brilliant fireballs.
Here are some interesting facts about the Perseus Constellation. First of all, it is in the northern sky.
The constellation is named for the Greek mythological hero and demigod Perseus, best known for slaying the Gorgon Medusa.
The constellation is fairly faint and difficult to see in light-polluted areas. Its two brightest stars are Mirfak and Algol.
The Perseid meteor shower radiates from the constellation in July and August.
Meteors, which are also referred to as falling
A new moon with the darkest conditions offers the best viewing of meteor showers. It’s best to obtain a calendar with notations of full moon and new moon, as well as major holidays, so you can plan your outings around the night sky and three day weekends.
The Perseid Meteor Shower appears to radiate from the constellation of Perseus. Meteors are usually observed starting in mid-July. with peak observations occuring in mid-August.
The meteors are debris of the comet Swift-Tuttle. At its peak, the shower produces 60 or more meteors per hour and sometimes the Perseid Shower produces brilliant fireballs.
Here are some interesting facts about the Perseus Constellation. First of all, it is in the northern sky.
The constellation is named for the Greek mythological hero and demigod Perseus, best known for slaying the Gorgon Medusa.
The constellation is fairly faint and difficult to see in light-polluted areas. Its two brightest stars are Mirfak and Algol.
The Perseid meteor shower radiates from the constellation in July and August.
Meteors, which are also referred to as falling
or shooting stars, occur when the Earth passes through debris fields left by passing comets.
What we are witnessing, when we see a shooting-star, is a small piece of interplanetary matter, called a meteor, entering the Earth’s atmosphere and ‘burning up’ at a height of about 100 km. While most look bright white, some can appear blue, green, yellow, orange, or red.
Some may even explode at the end of its visible flight. Most showers produce about 20 meteors per hour but there are showers which can produce hundreds of meteors over a period of less than an hour. Such shows are, unfortunately, very rare. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which they appear to radiate and can happen any month throughout the year.
(Source for this story Total Escape)
What we are witnessing, when we see a shooting-star, is a small piece of interplanetary matter, called a meteor, entering the Earth’s atmosphere and ‘burning up’ at a height of about 100 km. While most look bright white, some can appear blue, green, yellow, orange, or red.
Some may even explode at the end of its visible flight. Most showers produce about 20 meteors per hour but there are showers which can produce hundreds of meteors over a period of less than an hour. Such shows are, unfortunately, very rare. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which they appear to radiate and can happen any month throughout the year.
(Source for this story Total Escape)
Enjoy the mid-summer night skies.
