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Mars
joins the Perseid meteor shower for a beautiful display on
August 12th.
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July 22, 2005: Got a calendar? Circle this date:
Friday, August 12th. Next to the circle write "before
sunrise" and "Meteors!" Attach
all of the above to your refrigerator in plain view so you
won't miss the 2005 Perseid meteor shower.
 The
Perseids come every year, beginning in late July and stretching
into August. Sky watchers outdoors at the right time can see
colorful fireballs, occasional outbursts and, almost always,
long hours of gracefully streaking meteors. Among the many
nights of the shower, there is always one night that is best.
This year: August 12th.
Right:
A colorful Perseid streaks over Half Dome in Yosemite National
Park. Photo credit: Dirk Obudzinski, August 12, 2004. [gallery]
The
source of the shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the comet
is nowhere near Earth, the comet's wide tail does intersect
Earth's orbit. We glide through it every year in July and
August. Tiny bits of comet dust hit Earth's atmosphere traveling
132,000 mph. At that speed, even a tiny smidgen of dust makes
a vivid streak of light--a meteor--when it disintegrates.
The shower is most intense when Earth is in the dustiest part
of the tail.
Perseid
meteors fly out of the constellation Perseus, hence their
name. The best time to watch is during the hours before sunrise
when Perseus is high in the sky: sky
map. Between 2 a.m. and dawn on August 12th, if you get
away from city lights, you could see hundreds of meteors.
Scouts,
this is a good time to go camping!
Above:
A Perseid sky map. The red dot denotes the shower's radiant,
a point in the eastern sky from which meteors appear to stream.
[More]
Really,
it could hardly be better. The Perseids come on a warm summer
night. (Note: This is a northern hemisphere shower.) Other
familiar meteor showers like the Leonids of November require
a parka to enjoy. All you need for Perseids are light pajamas.
And
there's a bonus: Mars.
In
the constellation Aries, right beside Perseus, Mars is shining
like a bright red star. Step outside before sunrise, look
east, and you'll find you have a hard time taking your eyes
off Mars. There's something bewitching about it, maybe the
red color or perhaps the fact that it doesn't twinkle like
a true star. It's steady. You stare at Mars and it stares
right back.
Earth
and Mars are converging for a close encounter on October 30th.
Consider August 12th a preview. Mars already outshines every
star in the night sky, and it's getting brighter every night.
If you like August, you'll love October.
And
you will like August. Picture this: It's four in
the morning. The sky is dark. The breeze is pleasant. Mars
is beaming down from the east while meteors flit across the
sky.
Maybe
you should go circle the calendar again.
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Editor's
Notes: (1) The Perseids are a northern hemisphere
meteor shower. Southerners can see Perseids, too, but at greatly
reduced rates. (2) All times mentioned in this story are local,
so, e.g., "2 a.m." means 2 o'clock in the
morning in your time zone.
Author: Dr. Tony
Phillips | Production Editor:
Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA
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