The annual Perseid meteor shower will be visible in the night sky throughout Colorado in early August, according to experts at the University of Colorado at Boulder聮s Fiske Planetarium.
The natural nighttime light show will peak on Aug. 12, but will be less spectacular this year because of a nearly full moon, according to Doug Duncan, director of CU-Boulder聮s Fiske Planetarium and Sommers-Bausch Observatory.
聯The Perseids are among the most dependable of meteor showers,聰 Duncan said. 聯They produce meteors several days before and after the peak night, so if you聮re camping up in the mountains or somewhere away from city lights, keep your eyes open.聰
How dark the sky is is very important when it comes to viewing meteors, and this year it will be essential to get away from city lights, according to Duncan.
聯Unfortunately there will be a nearly full moon on Aug. 12, which means only the brightest meteors will be seen this year,聰 Duncan said.
Under ideal conditions, including years where there is little or no moonlight during the meteor shower, viewers can expect to see 50 to 60 meteors per hour. This year, Duncan said viewers can expect about 10 per hour.
Meteor showers occur when the Earth crosses the path of a comet orbiting the sun, in this case Comet Swift-Tuttle. When the comet comes close to the sun parts of the comet melt and break off, creating millions of chunks of ice and dust that make up its tail, Duncan said.
The chunks of the comet, which might be as small as a pea, are only seen as meteors when they get caught in Earth聮s gravity and burn up in the atmosphere.
聯Meteors are fascinating because they give us a sample of space further out than the astronauts have been able to go,聰 Duncan said. 聯Every meteorite ever studied dates back to the very beginning of the solar system, four and a half billion years ago.聰
People watching the meteor shower shouldn聮t worry about being struck by one, Duncan said, because as far as he knows there has only been one case of an American being hit.
The Perseid meteor shower is named for the Perseus constellation from which the meteors, or shooting stars, appear to radiate.
For more information about Fiske Planetarium or Sommers-Bausch Observatory call (303) 492-5002 or visit the planetarium聮s Web site at fiske.colorado.edu/ or the observatory聮s Web site at cosmos.colorado.edu/sbo.