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Aug 12, 2008 02:25 PM | 5
If you didn’t get up early this morning to watch, late-night tonight will still be a good opportunity to catch sight of some shooting stars. Every year around this time, the Earth hurtles through the debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle, resulting in the so-called Perseid meteor shower. The bits of dust strewn by the passing comet (which is now past the orbit of Uranus, according to NASA) burn up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere, traveling at about 132,000 miles (212,433 kilometers) per hour. These glowing streaks often originate in the direction of the constellation Perseus, hence the shower’s name.
In case you miss this meteoric event as it fizzles out in a few days, the next best time to start looking up for shooting stars will be on November 17, when our planet passes through the neighborhood of the Leonids.
Perhaps someday humankind will get the chance to watch meteor showers from Mars.
Image Credit: Mila Zinkova
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mars,
perseid meteor show,
meteor shower,
perseus,
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nasa,
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5 Comments
Add CommentI live in Massachusetts and I went outside around 9 p.m. tonight. I saw about 7 meteors and it was incredible! It is so amazing what is above us! I hope everyone got a chance to see it!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe stayed up until after 2 am watching for the meteors, it was an awesome sight!!! My 7 year old grandson and his mother watched with us and he was so excited that today I have to look on line to show him more about meteor showers. Hope to find lots of interesting information for him, because now he is as excited about this as he was learning about volcanoes
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is still so awesome if you have seen it before! Grab a blanket and go somewhere without too many lights and prepare to be dazzled! It is an experience to share and defintely remember! Enjoy!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJust another amzing display of nature...better than Tv, better than seen in a book, go and lay out and witness the majest y of the night skies!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe didn't see much here in the midwest but then we got up around 3am when we were told they would 'peak'. We're gonna try again tonight after sunset since we should have a good hour or two before we have to fight with the moon's glow.
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