Forecasters are predicting a meteor “outburst” on the night of August 11-12, which would potentially double the normal rate of shooting stars. Scientists call this an outburst, and they say it could reach up to 200 meteors per hour.
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Best viewing will be after the setting of the gibbous moon – in San Jose that will be at 12:40 a.m. Friday, 1:17 a.m. Saturday. The last time this happened was in 2009. That’s because Earth will pass through the center of the debris stream rather than the grazing encounter we experience in most years.
When the Earth passes through, the dust cloud particles hit the atmosphere at 140,000mph and burn up in streaking flashes of light, creating the spectacle known as the Perseids.
“The meteors you’ll see this year are from comet flybys that occurred hundreds if not thousands of years ago”, Cooke said in the NASA statement.
For individuals and families looking for a reason to get out of town and get into nature, the Perseid Meteor Shower might be just the ticket.
The best time to spot the meteors is from around 1am until dawn.
Last week, NASA announced that forecasters predict a Perseid outburst with double normal rates on the night of August 11-12.
In a typical year, observers of the annual shower can expect to see up to 100 meteors per hour but astronomers think we may be in for an even better show this year. The good news here in Southern Idaho is weather will be nice and clear to view the event.
Put a blanket down and get comfortable, preferably in an area away from light pollution.
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Robin Scagell, vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said: “They’re not going to be falling out of the sky like snowflakes, but it will be worth going out and having a look”. Meteors will appear all over the sky, so it’s best to lie down and look up high – taking in as much sky as possible.
