Don't miss the party -- remember to keep your eye on the sky between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. The Perseid meteor shower will be raining meteor dust, and you could see up to 100 "shooting stars" an hour.
And, since the moon is in its waning crescent phase, moonlight will interfere only slighly with the view.
You don't even need a telescope. Just spread out a blanket, maybe a late-night picnic, lay back and enjoy!
Perseid Meteor Trivia:
- Mankind has looked up at the Perseids for nearly 2,000 years
- The Perseids are remnants of the Swift-Tuttle comet, which orbits the sun every 133 years.
- These bits of comet "ice and dust" are more than 1,000 years old
- These meteors travel 37 miles per second
- The Perseids can be seen all over the sky, but the best viewing opportunities will be across the northern hemisphere.
- Those with sharp eyes will see that the meteors radiate from the direction of the constellation Perseus, which forms an inverted "Y" shape and is in the northeast.
- Some of the meteorites are as small as a grain of sand, but they have the kinetic energy of a nuclear bomb!
- If you see a very slow, bright object sailing across the sky, it's either a satellite or a Space Station.
Where and when to view around Altadena:
- The best time to view will be 2 am, August 12th.
- If possible, get away from the city lights. Turn-outs and parks off Angeles Crest Highway and near Mount Wilson are a good bet.
- Or, enjoy it from your own living room. Join NASA's Live Video/Audio Feed by clicking here. They'll live stream the meteor shower as seen from atop the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Hunstville AL.
