Perseid's Meteor Shower

 
It's that time of the year again and tonight is the climax.  The annual Perseid's meteor shower, one the most consistent celestial shows, will shower the night sky with up to 100 meteors per hour. 

Earth is passing through the grit from the Comet Swift-Tuttle.  The bright meteor streaks develop as the 140,000 mph grit/meteors burn in the upper atmosphere. 

It is called the Perseid's because they appear to stream from the direction of the constellation of Perseus but in fact can appear in any part of the sky.  Look to the northeast as darkness falls tonight and follow the streaks as they climb steadily through the night sky.   

For Bay Area watching you will need to get above the returning marine layer clouds, about 2000 feet.  The best viewing areas are most likely to be Mt. Diablo, Mt. Hamilton, the Santa Cruz Mountains, Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, Henry Coe State Park in the South Bay and possibly Mt. Tamalpias and around Sonoma.

If you capture any meteors, we would love to see them.  You can e-mail pictures to uReport@kgo-tv.com and upload video to uReport.abc7news.com.

Good luck tonight. 

Comments

[Mark McDonald]

DO NOT come to Lick Observatory or Mt. Hamilton to view the Perseids. The observatory is closed after 5pm daily, and visitors will be turned away with no exceptions. Parking along Hwy 130 (MT. Hamilton Rd.) is limited to emergency parking only, and if found parked illegally, you will be moved and subject to citation. Trespassing and parking violations are enforced every night, especially during the fire season. Sorry...