The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks tonight - often the best meteor shower of the year with high hourly rates (in "peak" years exceeding 100 meteors per hour) - and great viewing.
Now...Meteorologists don't study meteors. At least - astronomical meteors.
But we do forecast the viewing conditions for them!
You don't need a telescope to view the shower, but, odds are if you see someone with one...you're in a good spot to see it.
According to Bruce Bookout, Adjunct Professor of Astronomy at Pikes Peak State College and a member of the Pikes Peak Astronomical Society, "What you're looking at in these types of events called meteor showers are the breakup of a comet. While we're not intercepting the comet, we're intercepting the debris and trash left behind in its orbital path."
In this case the comet is Swift-Tuttle and the shower comes out of the constellation Perseus. That's where the name Perseid's comes from. You need a dark sky for the best views.
Bookout says to "Head east, head up into the mountains, find the dark areas, get away from the city lights. Even smaller towns like Woodland Park have a good sky dome in terms of their light pollution problem."
In other words: you'll want to head out of town, even if you're not right along I-25.
In the direction of the mountains, both Mueller State Park, and the Florissant Fossil Beds, offer good viewing of the sky away from light pollution. Pikes Peak Region local options include the Paint Mines. Otherwise - you should head well east of I-25. Crowley, Otero, E. Las Animas and Lincoln counties are generally far enough east to avoid most of the light pollution of the urban core of the Front Range.
The main weather issue with viewing this year locally is wildfire smoke. Due to the wind direction - that's not a big issue tonight. Smoke will move back into the Front Range mountains before dawn…so if you're viewing this shower up in the mountains, you have until around 5 a.m. to view things clearly. There will be an increase in smoke throughout the rest of the week. For now, it doesn't look that thick but this is subject to some change (based on how the fires to the west pulse up or don't over the next couple of days).
VIEWING TIPS
When you reach your chosen viewing spot:
1. Give your eyes time to adjust. About 20 minutes, but it can take up to 30.
2. Bring a comfortable chair or blanket
3. And try to look slightly off from the center of the constellation.
Your peripheral vision is better at spotting movement at nighttime (due to the placement of different types of light receptors in your eyes).
HOW TO FIND THE PERSEID METEOR SHOWER
To find the meteor shower…look to the north.
The shower will start low in the northern sky and rise to the north-northeast throughout the night.
The shower will continue for the next several days.
In fact…you may have better viewing conditions later in the week.
Bruce's picks are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The moon will rise later and later each night through the rest of the week, making evening viewing conditions better.
Also - the Pikes Peak Astronomical Society will host a dark sky party in Mueller State Park on Friday night. Bookout and other experts will be on hand to help provide visitors more information about the shower and help on viewing it.
While the moon will block out some of the action this year and this is an "off" year for the Perseid's - it's still a great show.
A final tip: You can also download an app called Stellarium to your phone. It helps you search for where the shower is centered relative to your location. It'll also tell you that information for any other celestial objects you want to see.
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