How to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower in the Northwest
Aug 11, 2016, 5:22 AM | Updated: 9:51 pm
The Perseid Meteor Shower is set to light up the night sky. But with a tendency to have overcast skies, will the Northwest get a glimpse of that light show?
Chances are good, according to KIRO 7 Meteorologist Morgan Palmer. Clouds will clear away by the time the shower starts.
Seattle just experienced the coolest July in years
The best chances to see the Perseid Meteor Shower is the evening of Aug. 11-12. And, of course, if you have the ability to get away from light pollution, you will have a much better view of the shower.
“Even in the Seattle area, along I-5, you’ll still be able to see a shooting star or two,” Palmer said.
Look toward the northern sky for the Perseid Meteor Shower. It is expected that up to 200 meteors will be seen by early Friday morning. NASA recommends staying up past midnight and allowing for your eyes to adjust to the dark for 45 minutes as you stare at the sky.
What is the Perseid Meteor Shower?
What makes this year’s Perseid Meteor Shower a little more unique is that it is an “outburst,” according to NASA. That’s when there are far more meteors seen than normal. The last such outburst was in 2009.
“Forecasters are predicting a Perseid outburst this year with double normal rates on the night of Aug. 11-12,” said Bill Cooke with NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office in Huntsville, Alabama. “Under perfect conditions, rates could soar to 200 meteors per hour.”
The Perseid Meteor Shower is caused by remnants of the Swift-Tuttle comet which orbits the sun every 133 years. It leaves behind a trail of debris, and the Earth usually crosses the edge of that trail most years. But every few years Jupiter helps to light things up — Jupiter’s gravity pulls some of that debris closer to the Earth’s path and we cross right through. NASA says that two or three streams of comet debris could be in the Earth’s path this year, making for a considerable light show.
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