Meteor Mayhem

Mark your calendar! It's meteor month. Yep, in the Northern Hemisphere August is the time to see some fantastic meteors. During the second week of August (Peaking this year on August 12th) is the Perseid Meteor shower.

This is a great overview article on the occasion by MSNBC. Go on, read it now, I'll wait.


Waiting,

Waiting,

Waiting...

Ok did you read it?


Wasn't it interesting? The part that explained why we have a meteor shower every August.

Oh...you didn't read the ENTIRE article? You should have it was very informative. Well here is a good little tidbit on it if you are short on time.

"We know today that these meteors are actually the dross of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Discovered back in 1862, this comet takes approximately 130 years to circle the sun. And in much the same way that the Tempel-Tuttle comet leaves a trail of debris along its orbit to produce the spectacular Leonid Meteors of November, the Swift-Tuttle comet produces a similar debris trail along its orbit to cause the Perseids.

Indeed, every year during mid-August, when the Earth passes close to the orbit of Swift-Tuttle, the material left behind by the comet from its previous visits, ram into our atmosphere at approximately 37 miles per second and create bright streaks of light in our midsummer night skies. "

So, take note curl up with a blanket and a buddy for the only thing to fear is as Astronomer, Dr. Kenneth L. Franklin said is getting drenched with dew and falling asleep!

SIDE NOTE: If you are looking to view some stars while waiting for the those sand size comet pieces to fall. You must check this out. It's called the Sky Scout. It's a small computerized, GPS enhanced star identifier and it is really really cool. Mike's Dad brought one over Friday night and we all had a blast identifying stars. It even tells a bit of info/history on 50,000 stars, planets and constellations. It is definitely on my wish list of cool things to own.