Conditions look good for this year’s Perseid meteor shower, though the event may be hampered by wildfire season in the Pacific Northwest.
The Perseids will peak Aug. 11 to 13, according to the American Meteor Society, when viewers should be able to see about 50 meteors per hour under clear, dark skies.
Jim Todd, director of space science education at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, said the evening of Thursday, Aug. 12, should offer the best viewing, though meteors should be strong Wednesday through Friday morning next week.
READ MORE: Stargazing calendar for 2021
To see the show, Oregonians should look to the northeast as the first stars appear at night, Todd said, allowing their gaze to wander over a large portion of the sky, watching for bright streaks of light across the stars. Dark, remote skies are best, though some meteors may be visible in brighter cities as well.
While the brightness of the moon won’t be a big issue this year (there will be a waxing crescent moon Aug. 12), the meteor shower could be obscured by either clouds or smoke from ongoing wildfires across the region.
Smoke has been a persistent problem in eastern Oregon this summer, a region that is also home to some of the darkest skies in the state. Conditions have improved as recent wildfires wind down, but as the threat of fire still looms, so does the possibility that smoke could obscure the best meteor shower of the year.
Star gazers can check the latest smoke forecast online at airquality.weather.gov, and the upcoming weather forecast at weather.gov, both run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In the past, OMSI has hosted star parties for the Perseid meteor shower at Rooster Rock and L.L. Stub Stewart state parks, but this year – like last year – those events are not being held due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Perseid meteor shower occurs as the Earth moves through a debris path left behind by the Swift-Tuttle comet during its last trip past the sun in 1992. When a comet passes the sun it sheds icy and dusty debris in a stream behind the comet’s orbit. When that debris enters Earth’s atmosphere it appears as a meteor shower.
Perseids got their name from Perseus, the constellation in which they are seen.
--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB
Article From & Read More ( Perseid meteor shower returns for 2021, wildfire smoke could dampen the show - OregonLive )https://ift.tt/3jk9uor
Science
No comments:
Post a Comment