Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — Stargazers who cast their eyes skyward Thursday should enjoy two-for-one celestial treats.
A heavenly threesome will appear after dusk, when a trio of planets glides above a fragile crescent moon. Later, the fabled Perseid meteor shower will adorn the night with up to 50 shooting stars an hour.
"This is the astronomy night of the summer," said Arnold Pearlstein, who writes an astronomy column for the Sun Sentinel and teaches science for Miami-Dade schools. "The Perseid is one of the top showers of the year."
The show begins at twilight, with the glow of the setting sun still on the horizon. Three planets — Mars, Venus and Saturn — will gather in the west near a lopsided crescent moon like the discombobulated components of a celestial smiley face.
"This occurs every few years," Pearlstein said. "It just happens to be very convenient, and with the meteor shower, that's just excellent timing."
Venus, the brightest, will shimmer blue-white. Ringed Saturn will be burnished pale gold. Mars, the dimmest, will glower in its traditional red. The ivory waxing moon, followed by the planets, soon will drop below the horizon, setting a darkened stage for the firmament's second act.
Within hours, the Perseid shower will begin to emit brilliant sparklers from its namesake constellation Perseus in the northeast sky. Unlike years past, the meteors will arrive early enough for most folks to see.
According to 6News Meteorologist Ed Bloodsworth, Thursday night and early Friday morning will be perfect for watching the meteor shower. A few meteors will be visible before midnight, but the bulk of the event will happen in Kansas skies between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. where you may be able to see 60-100 meteors per hour.
Tips for watching the meteor shower:
- Try to watch from an area away from city lights
- Activity will begin in the northeast sky and then spread out. As the Perseus Constellation rises higher in the sky, the volume of meteors will increase.
- Bring a blanket or reclining lawn chair
- Arrive 15 minutes before you plan to watch so your eyes can adjust to the dark
- Bring lots of bug spray
- Don't bring a telescope or binoculars. "The best way to view this is with the eye alone," Pearlstein said.
The meteors are icy dust fragments shed by the comet Swift-Tuttle as it passes near the sun. The tiny particles, speeding at a dizzying 38 miles per second, sizzle in the earth's atmosphere, some leaving trails that can last for seconds.
Comments
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vigil05 (anonymous) says…
Hopefully we get clearer skies later this evening.
thuja (anonymous) says…
"Mars, the dimmest, will glower in its traditional red."
In late January, Mars was the brightest object in the night sky save the moon, brighter than Sirius, the brightest star.
RogueThrill (anonymous) replies…
True. But this is August and albedo is relative.
thuja (anonymous) replies…
Um, yeah. That's what I mean.
yourworstnightmare (anonymous) says…
Comet fragments, bah. This is God's dandruff.
Prove to me that that comet exists and that these fragments are from it.
Newell_Post (anonymous) says…
... glower ...? I didn't know Mars was that angry this time of year.
autie (anonymous) says…
It is also helpful to bring a couple of good doobies and/or your bong with a cooler full of cold beer. "like.....oh wooooow maaannnn" "that was soooocoooollll""
tange (anonymous) says…
A fond memory, from several years ago...
I had been out during the wee hours, catching the occasional streak,
when I saw a point in the sky begin to grow in diameter, until it abruptly faded.
Almost immediately, I realized I had viewed a meteor, not streaking across the sky,
but traveling directly toward me.
( Yeah, that's when everything changed.... )
liggyon (David Lignell) replies…
Tange, that was no meteor. That was Ronda!
SWGlassPit (Tristan Moody) says…
(stolen from FARK) Protip: If you only see one bright meteor, and it isn't moving, you're staring at the sun. Wait until it is dark outside.
Pywacket (anonymous) replies…
~Like~
riverdrifter (anonymous) says…
Why the hell do the damn Perseids *always* peak between 2am and 5am? Crap.
I've stayed (gotten) up for them before and I'd say overrated.
Gadhelyn (anonymous) replies…
If you look at Earth from a far vantage point above the orbital plane, Earth revolves around the sun counterclockwise and also rotates about its axis counterclockwise. So the side of the Earth that is currently in the AM hours is facing the direction the planet is moving. Because of this it's what get hits most (imagine driving a car through a light rain shower, your windshield will get more rain than the rear window because the forward movement will cause the windshield to move into the rain and the rear window to evade the rain). Now, at nightfall you're still on the rear window side of the Earth. After you get to the halfway point of night (Assuming darkness at 9:30-10:00 and night lifting around 6:30, halfway is about 2:30-3:00 AM), you move into the windshield side of the planet. And after 5 AM you get near sunrise and the light of the sun will start making it hard to see the meteors (so technically if the sun wasn't so bright, you'd still get peak at 9 AM too). Bet it'd be cool to get the Perseids and a morning total solar eclipse at the same time.
riverdrifter (anonymous) replies…
Thank you.
Only 20 days to dove season.
liggyon (David Lignell) says…
"...near a lopsided crescent moon like the discombobulated components of a celestial smiley face."
Okay, so I took the kids to Clinton to view the drunken crescent face, but couldn't tell if Mars twinkled as the left eye or the right one. Venus, the arrogant planet, was easy to spot as the bright, bulbous nose!
So can anyone tell me which eye Saturn or Mars was? Still, very cool to view. Thanks for the heads up, ljw.