Meteors 5

Like clockwork, we are now passing through a trail of 1000-year old comet dust called a "meteor stream" that has been left behind from a passing comet. The culprit responsible is the comet Swift-Tuttle, which is currently on the far side of Uranus. The show peaks tonight between sunset, tonight, and dawn tomorrow. One problem that North American viewers will face is strong moonlight, which will wash-out all but the brightest collisions with our atmosphere, so if you want to see the best part of the shower, don't stay up late...go to bed early and get up a couple of hours before dawn, as the Moon wanes. This shower is called the Perseids and is given this name because it appears to be coming at us from the Constellation Perseus. What we see are small objects that hit the atmosphere at around 130,000 mph.

If you want to make the most of this spectacle, here's a few tips. Binoculars won't help. Don't try to do this for very long from a standing or sitting position; you'll only hurt your neck. The best way to view the shower is from a chaise lounge, or a blanket on the ground. If you're like me, you'll be the one who is looking in the wrong direction while everyone else is "OOOO'ing and AAAAH'ing".

If you're lucky, you'll get to see a fireball, like this one. Okay...all together now: "OOOOOOOO!"



UP DATE: Jaywilton kept me up so late last night, that I ended up crashing in the lounge chair and missed 'em.