Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Shooting stars shower region

If you like the beauty and mystery of a shooting star, this is the week to take some time to look up at night.

The Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak on Thursday and Friday nights as the Earth passes through a debris trail left by Comet Swift-Tuttle.

At its height, the Perseids can send as many as 50 meteors blazing across various parts of the sky each hour.

“This may be a good year for the showers,” said Mary Singer of the Spokane Astronomical Society.

That is because Earth is forecast to orbit through a streamer of material left by the comet’s pass by the sun in 1479, according to Sky and Telescope magazine. A Japanese astronomer calculated the 1479 debris should be encountered by Earth on Friday about 2 a.m. Pacific time, the magazine reported.

“You don’t need a telescope or anything,” Singer said. The meteors are brilliant enough to be seen from the city, but a trip to a dark location outside the urban area will intensify their appearance, which occurs when small grains of sand or pebbles left by the comet vaporize as they graze into Earth’s atmosphere.

The largest meteors will leave smoky trails. Some will appear as fireballs. “They will often explode in a knot of a yellowish green flash. They are really cool,” she said.

The overall center of the shower is forecast to reach its maximum around 17 hours Universal Time on Friday, which is 4 p.m. on the West Coast, according to Sky and Telescope.

As a result, the nights before and after should be good viewing with the best hours coming after 11 p.m. and in the early morning hours as Earth rotates toward dawn.