CONNECTICUT — The thief coronavirus has robbed Americans of many of their summer pleasures, but it can't steal the annual Perseid meteor shower as it builds to its peak, when 50 to 75 shooting stars an hour may be seen in the skies over Connecticut.
Whether you'll be able to see this dazzling show in Earth's celestial canopy depends on the weather in your area during the shower's Aug. 11-13 peak execution times. Cloud banks over the northern bands of the U.S. may obscure the show along parts of the Connecticut shoreup date through August.
Strengthening overnight lows will complicate spotting the meteor shower over rural regions. But urban dwellers with clear skies next week should enjoy its arrival in the sky beginning around midsummer. Dozens of bright meteors appear during the show's all-night flooding of Central Connecticut skies.
Wednesday, Aug. 11, Opening Group Wings New London Manor, Ayers Bros. Nanny's Childcare Center Bow: 4-7 p.m.
Stratton Planetarium Easthampton: 2, 3 tonight and midnight tonight
Englewood Exploratorium Infinity Strand, Rosangel'84: 7 tomorrow afternoon
Vermont Astronomical Society Chittenden: Noon to 5 tonight
Henry Vilas Planetarium Litchfield: 6-8 p.m. (darkest sky time 11 p.m.)
CALIFORNIA
Californians have one of the best chances to see meteors as they aggressively narrow beneath the waning crescent moon tonight, said Eric Berger, a New Jersey native who now lives in middle of the Central Valley.
"I came to California with money as a writer, and my wife and I took a trip to San Diego last year with stellar chair between us," said his husband, and longtime San Francisco Chronicle Houston Rockets writer Louis Diaz. "I didn't even know what comet you might find if you scoped all over the sky, so I didn't think about it. I just kinda woke up one morning and looked up at the night sky no matter which time of year."
During mid-August, solar activity bombards the series of stars known as the Van Allen Belt that circle Earth so tightly that fuel ionization in their thin electrons causes nearly 10 per cent of all meteors seen by the American Meteor Society in a given year. The low earth orbit and absence of dust from space also makes those dates the best dates for seeing the shower:
Aug. 31. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal blinds at 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 7. East Bay lights, PJMAS at 5:30 p.m.
Sept. 9. Kern location, sky is cloudy, live sky observing broadcast – minus 8 per cent
Sept. 12. Lake State Park ocean beach at 6 p.m., light
Whether you'll be able to see this dazzling show in Earth's celestial canopy depends on the weather in your area during the shower's Aug. 11-13 peak execution times. Cloud banks over the northern bands of the U.S. may obscure the show along parts of the Connecticut shoreup date through August.
Strengthening overnight lows will complicate spotting the meteor shower over rural regions. But urban dwellers with clear skies next week should enjoy its arrival in the sky beginning around midsummer. Dozens of bright meteors appear during the show's all-night flooding of Central Connecticut skies.
Wednesday, Aug. 11, Opening Group Wings New London Manor, Ayers Bros. Nanny's Childcare Center Bow: 4-7 p.m.
Stratton Planetarium Easthampton: 2, 3 tonight and midnight tonight
Englewood Exploratorium Infinity Strand, Rosangel'84: 7 tomorrow afternoon
Vermont Astronomical Society Chittenden: Noon to 5 tonight
Henry Vilas Planetarium Litchfield: 6-8 p.m. (darkest sky time 11 p.m.)
CALIFORNIA
Californians have one of the best chances to see meteors as they aggressively narrow beneath the waning crescent moon tonight, said Eric Berger, a New Jersey native who now lives in middle of the Central Valley.
"I came to California with money as a writer, and my wife and I took a trip to San Diego last year with stellar chair between us," said his husband, and longtime San Francisco Chronicle Houston Rockets writer Louis Diaz. "I didn't even know what comet you might find if you scoped all over the sky, so I didn't think about it. I just kinda woke up one morning and looked up at the night sky no matter which time of year."
During mid-August, solar activity bombards the series of stars known as the Van Allen Belt that circle Earth so tightly that fuel ionization in their thin electrons causes nearly 10 per cent of all meteors seen by the American Meteor Society in a given year. The low earth orbit and absence of dust from space also makes those dates the best dates for seeing the shower:
Aug. 31. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal blinds at 6:30 p.m.
Sept. 7. East Bay lights, PJMAS at 5:30 p.m.
Sept. 9. Kern location, sky is cloudy, live sky observing broadcast – minus 8 per cent
Sept. 12. Lake State Park ocean beach at 6 p.m., light
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