Its Prime Time for The Perseid Meteor Shower, Tonite! - PNW Riders

It's prime time for the Perseids, arguably the most accessible meteor shower of the year. Every night, Cooke has been turning on a couple of all-sky cameras in Alabama and Georgia to catch meteor trails as they streak through the sky. Perseid meteors should be visible every night from now until next week. At its peak, observers could see at least one meteor every minute, Cooke told me. First, some basic facts about meteors: As explained in our interactive graphic, meteor showers occur when our planet plows through a trail of space grit left behind by a comet. An all-sky camera captures a fireball streaking over Alabama on Aug. 3 during the Perseid meteor shower. Based on what he's seen so far, Cooke expects a "very good Perseid shower this year." Perseid meteors appear to emanate from a point in the constellation Perseus, as shown in this graphic depicting the northeastern sky at around midnight. Although the meteors can appear in any part of the sky, their tails can be traced back to that point.. Here's an updated game plan for making the most of the meteors, assembled with Cooke's help: Pick a viewing spot far away from city lights, where the skies are likely to be clear and wide-open. Although the meteors appear to emanate from the radiant in Perseus, don't focus exclusively on that point. "The closer the meteor is to the radiant, the shorter the trail is," "I always tell people to look straight up, because that way, they'll catch plenty of meteors far enough from the radiant to see a trail." When you click in the right coordinates for meteor shower, date, location and viewing conditions, the Java-based calculator charts what the estimated meteor flux will be at different times. NASA's Perseid Web page includes a video feed that shows what Cooke's cameras are seeing, accompanied by a soundtrack of radio blips created by the meteor streaks. "When a meteor passes, you'll hear a blip kind of like a sonar blip," SpaceWeather Radio also lets you hear the meteors, and you can always check out the Perseid Fireball Cam. If you want to share your meteor sightings with the world via Twitter - and find out where the sightings are sizzling - the MeteorWatch website is the place for you. Even if you miss the meteor shower completely, you can click through SpaceWeather.com's meteor gallery and catch up on the highlights. And you can start making plans for the Leonid meteor shower (peaking Nov. 17-18, unfortunately during a nearly full moon) as well as the Geminid meteor shower (peaking Dec. 13-14). Cooke noted that December's Geminids are the equal of August's Perseids, based on the number of meteors you should be able to see. Last night, for example, I saw exactly one meteor from my viewing spot, a half-hour's drive outside Seattle. One meteor! Even setting aside the meteor, it was well worth the trip. Space.com: Meteor shower makes impressive start Sky &