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This Week’s Perseid Meteor Shower in ‘Outburst’ Mode, Expected to Create Fireworks in the Night Sky

Published on Wednesday, August 10, 2016 | 5:57 pm
 

Pasadena skywatchers are likely in for a spectacular meteor display starting Thursday night if the Perseid meteor shower, which occurs every August, includes what scientists are predicting: an “outburst,” throwing anywhere from 160 to 200 meteor showers per hour into the night sky instead of the usual 80 to 100.

The last time an “outburst” occurred was in 2009; after this month’s, the next one isn’t expected until around 2027, according to Bill Cooke, the head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.

Every August, the shooting star display shows up when Earth travels through trails of debris left behind by the ancient Swift-Tuttle comet. During the event, pieces of the comet hit the Earth’s atmosphere at great speeds and burn up, creating spectacular trails of light in the sky before they disintegrate.

Experts at Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory say the most favorable viewing time could be between 9 p.m. Thursday and 3 a.m. Friday when the Perseid meteor shower peaks.

“The constellation Perseus is visible in the northern sky soon after sunset, and the famous and reliably active Perseid meteor shower peaks in the morning hours of August 12,” JPL Outreach Specialist Jane Houston Jones says in a NASA promotional video. “The moon, which paired up so nicely with Mars and Saturn on the 11th, is bright enough to blot out some of the meteors, but lucky for you, it sets about 1 a.m. on the morning of the 12th, just at the peak time for the best Perseid viewing.”

Jones said a smaller number of Perseids started streaking through the sky two weeks ago, building up to the August 11 crescendo.

“It’s a huge bunch of dust that the Earth is plowing through,” Jones tells Riverside-based The Press Enterprise. “The Perseids are the mother lode of meteor showers because it’s not a one-night event.”

On its website, JPL offers advice on how to maximize the Perseid meteor shower watching event, including getting as far away from “urban light pollution” as possible and finding a location with a “clear, unclouded view of the night sky.”

“Put away the telescope or binoculars,” says an Asteroid Watch update on the JPL site. “Using either reduces the amount of sky you can see at one time, lowering the odds that you’ll see anything but darkness.

“Instead, let your eyes hang loose and don’t look in any one specific spot. Relaxed eyes will quickly zone in on any movement up above, and you’ll be able to spot more meteors.”

NASA’s Rhiannon Blaauw shared some viewing tips (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzLknGRZlLs) in an online video to help observers watch the meteor shower Thursday night.

She says it’s important to first give your eyes a chance to adjust to the dark. “I would suggest just lying on your back and taking in as much of the sky as possible,” says Blaauw. “You don’t want to look in any particular direction, just lie on your back and look straight up.” It can take about 45 minutes for your eyes to fully adjust, NASA says.

NASA will also show a livestream (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-msfc) Thursday and Friday, starting at 7 p.m. Slooh, Space for Everyone, will also host a livestream of the event (http://live.slooh.com/stadium/live/perseid-meteor-shower-2016).

The National Weather Service forecasts clear skies over Pasadena Thursday night into early Friday, making weather conditions almost perfect for meteor-watching.

For more information and tips on watching the Perseid meteor showers, visit www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroidwatch/meteor.php.

 

 

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