The Daily Mining Gazette - Published: Friday, August 10, 2007 Print Article | Close Window Perseids meteor show this weekend By DAN SCHNEIDER, DMG Writer HOUGHTON — This weekend and into next week, the night sky will be filled with “shooting stars”. The Perseids meteor shower will take center stage in the firmament for the next several days. It’s an annual appearance for the meteor shower, which is named after the constellation, Perseus. “The Perseids get their name from the constellation on the sky from which they appear to come,” Michigan Tech University astrophysicist Dr. Robert Nemiroff said in an interview conducted via e-mail. “The Perseids meteor shower has its peak typically spread out over several days, from Aug. 8 through Aug. 14, with the peak typically being toward the middle of that time span.” He said the best time for looking at meteor showers is after midnight, when Earth’s rotation brings the observer closest to the meteor stream. Partly cloudy skies are in the weather forecast this weekend. But if the sky is clear at night, Nemiroff said conditions should be ideal for meteor watching. “This year we are lucky that the Perseids meteor shower is occurring just as the glare of the moon is at its most faint — barely a crescent will be visible,” he said. The “shooting stars” are actually sand-sized bits of Comet Swift-Tuttle, Nemiroff said. “Comet Swift-Tuttle continues to orbit the sun, as do particles shed by the comet,” he said. “These particles get spread out along the comet’s orbit over time. When the earth goes near Comet Swift-Tuttle’s orbit, some of these particles hit the earth and disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere. “As these particles glow, we see them as meteors.” With its low population density, the Keweenaw Peninsula is a good place to watch the meteors. “We will have a good view from the Keweenaw, providing it is not too cloudy,” Nemiroff said. “The skies are very dark here when one gets just a few minutes away from the city lights.” He recommends not using a telescope. “Meteors are better seen just lying back comfortably and taking in as much sky as you can,” Nemiroff said. A star party is taking place Saturday night starting at 10 p.m. at the top of Brockway Mountain. “If it is too cloudy,” Nemiroff said. “We will try again the following day, Sunday.” In other astronomical news, a total lunar eclipse will take place Aug. 28. Nemiroff said the eclipse will appear to begin at 4:51 a.m. and will reach full eclipse at 5:52 a.m. “From the Keweenaw, the moon will set while eclipsed as the sun rises on the opposite side of the sky,” he said. Nemiroff is co-author with NASA astrophysicist Jerry Bonnell of the book “Astronomy: 365 days.” It is available at local book stores. Dan Schneider can be reached at dschneider@mininggazette.com