Thursday, August 11: Perseid Meteor Shower in Boundary County skies tonight (And in other skies across America . . . . )

August 11, 2016

Tonight Boundary County may have the opportunity to see one of the year's biggest meteor showers. This is the time of year for the Perseid meteors to show up. The Perseid meteor shower has been going on for several evenings now, and will actually continue for a few more, but tonight, Thursday, August 11, is predicted to be one of the peak nights. In fact, some experts are predicting that this year's Perseid shower may be especially active, due to some of the effects of the planet Jupiter. If the night sky is clear, and the stars are out and visible, and if you have a dark location where there is not a lot of light to interfere with seeing the night sky, then take a look at the following viewing tips to see the Perseid Meteor Shower: • Meteors (which will appear as "shooting stars") can be seen once the sky is dark. The darkest sky and best viewing, however, will be after the moon sets and the bright moonlight is no longer illuminating the sky. But one can still see shooting meteors even before the moon sets. You just won't see them as being quite so bright, and you likely won't see quite as many as will be seen once the moon sets. • The moon will set in the west at approximately 1:00 a.m., which will leave the sky dark. Once the moon sets, shooting meteors will be seen to be brighter and occurring more frequently across the dark sky. Sorry it's so late! • If you plan to stay up and watch the meteor shower, then grab a blanket and maybe a reclining lawn chair, find a dark location, and start watching the stars. • On a typical year, a person in a dark location without a lot of light might see a shooting meteor about once per minute on average. • If we are in luck this year, with the experts predicting a possible higher rate of Perseid meteors in 2016, we might see shooting stars even more frequently than once per minute. • Don't forget your mosquito spray. • If you don't make it out to see them tonight, the Perseids will continue after dark for a few more days. You'll have more chances, but each night there will likely be fewer and fewer visible meteors. Enjoy one of Boundary County's lesser-known treasures: dark skies without a bunch of city lights, which allows beautiful star-filled clear nights. Good luck with your Perseid meteor spotting!