Perseid meteor shower to light up night sky for a week
By Kristen Schorsch, Tribune reporter
August 12, 2009
Did you notice hundreds of necks craned to the sky Tuesday night?
They were gawking at the annual Perseid meteor shower, which every year brings up to 100 meteors per hour blazing fiery streaks across the sky as the Earth passes through the dust trail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, said Mark Hammergren, an astronomer at Adler Planetarium.
The bright spectacle isn't over yet. The meteor shower is expected to peak between 12:30 and 3 p.m. Wednesday but sky watchers only can see the meteors in the dark, Hammergren said. So sit tight until the sun sets, then look up. You could see up to one meteor a minute, Hammergren said. The show should continue for at least a week, he said.
Discovered in 1862, the comet is a giant iceberg made up of ice, rock and dust particles that likely has been in orbit for thousands of years, Hammergren said. Particles -- about the size of a sesame seed when clustered together -- slowly have been eroding from the comet every time it has approached the sun, leaving a trail of debris that the Earth's orbit intersects once a year, Hammergren said.
The particles, known as meteoroids, create a meteor shower when they collide with the Earth's atmosphere and burn up, forming fiery streaks across the sky.
A bright meteor glows as much as the brightest stars in the sky, Hammergren said. And pay close attention: They zip across the sky at about 132,000 m.p.h., leaving a gazer's sight in a second or two, he said.
The best viewing place? Get away from the city lights and look northeast.
klschorsch@tribune.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/chi-meteor-show...
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by TheLasersShadow on
-
Saw 6 this morning at about 4:45am not too spectacular but interesting to see.
-
Permalink Reply by WTRH-AM-AE on
-
We have been hot and humid over here. We always is getting a lot of thunderstorms and heavy rains. There is a slim chance for me to see the meteor showers this year.
-
Permalink Reply by Inheritor From ConCen on
-
I SAW IT! This is my favorite meteor shower! I've anticipated it 6 years in a row now. Last two years were overcast but last night i stayed out and saw countless meteors. Faint ones, big ones with huge tails, long lasting ones .... the perseids shower is the best. Glad you posted this Tara.
-
Permalink Reply by truth on
-
The first time I saw this shower was by chance. I was on top of half dome mountain in Cali's Yosemite Nat park. It was so awesome there in the clear skies, 100 miles from city lights and 6 thousand feet up. I met others there who planned on seeing it from there, and planned their trip a year before . I just lucked out.
Truly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The shrooms certainly didn't hurt the experience :)
-
-
awesome James. I've been to half dome twice. It sounds like a fantasy to imagine seeing this shower there. I can only imagine how incredible it was! Talk about the perfect place!!! Neat story.
-
Permalink Reply by Ian on
-
im disgusted i missed it. living in Ireland has a down side... You cant see the sky most of the time. we get that much cloud, we would never notice chem trails and we miss the natural wonders of the sky aswell. ohh well maybe next time. :(
-
Permalink Reply by I811st on
-
I'm always looking up day and night analyzing the chemistry ,and in the nights leading up to the shower there were two nights where we had textbook cross gridded chemtrails across the night sky here ,near los angeles. seeing them do what they do during the day is all too common. seeing freshly laid lines on a clear night is less so.and wouldn'cha know it wed.-fri. nights the marine layer /coatal eddy had been drawn in. don't think that's coincidental , do you?
a few months back, typical sunset:
"Destroying the New World Order"
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!
Latest Activity
- Top News
- Everything
Experimenter - Official Trailer
Like on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/experimenterfilmYale University, 1961. Stanley Milgram (Peter Sarsgaard) designs a psychology experiment that stil...
How Did the Soviets First Discover the SR-71 Blackbird?
Although President Lydon Johnson announced the development of the Lockheed SR-71 in 1964 which…See More
"Personally, I don't consider Don Lemon or people like him to be journalists at all. They are…"
The Farmer vs the Billionaire — Jeremy Clarkson Says NO to Bill Gates’ £100 Million Deal | UK News
OFFICIAL NOTICE: This channel is NOT Jeremy Clarkson, is not affiliated with him, and does not represent his official views or Diddly Squat Farm. This is an ...
The Forbidden Canyon and It’s Residents
Chapter OneSituated 10 miles from Mount Jefferson in the Oregon wilderness a forest researcher…See More
G_LrzqtXMAAhT7w
"He would never do that. Mosques and Synagogues are out of the question, only Christianity is free…"
Disgraced Former CNN Anchor Don Lemon Arrested
No longer an employed journalist, Don Lemon had been seen with far left agitator, Nekima Levy…See More
The Illusion of Fuck You Money
The United States use to have this idea that once you make enough money, you.can do as you want.…See More
The Human Antenna - OFFICIAL FILM
THE HUMAN ANTENNA - Can We Reverse The Trans Humanist Agenda?MORE INFORMATION: → www.humanantennafilm.com ← MASTERPEACE: https://mphcs.com/PrimeEarthHuman En...
"PS Not sure this video will last much longer."
" Deflection ~ Away from Themselves ! example. -->…"
Hi-Rez & Jimmy Levy - This Is A War (Official Video)
Disclaimer: The views, information, opinions and/or activities expressed in this video are solely those of the individuals appearing in the video, and do no...
© 2026 Created by truth.
Powered by
