Under the Starry Sky with the Perseids Meteor Shower
/photo courtesy creative commons
See any stars lately? If you didn't know, until August 24th the annual Perseids Meteor Shower will take over the skies creating quite a sight for residents of the Northern Hemisphere.
This year NASA predicts that between 100 to 200 meteors will be visible in the night sky at peak. The number is significantly higher than years past, as a result of the planet Jupiter's intense gravitational pull – it is so strong it also pulled into two other meteor streams left behind by the comet.
In Earth's path is a cluster of rocks and debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle’s rendezvous in 1862, 1479 and 1079. Yes, 1079. The last time a special Perseids shower occurred was in 2009. Don't miss it.