We took a detour to outer space in the Adventure Subaru to visit NASA Solar System Ambassador Dr. Katherine Auld to learn more about the spectacular meteor shower coming up and how you can view it at home. If you’ve ever wanted to go stargazing, now is your chance. The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best to view in 2018, and it returns each summer.
Dr. Auld says you actually don’t have to look a certain direction in the sky. If you look towards Perseus, which is sort of on the northern half of the hemisphere you’ll see more, but you’ll see them everywhere.
While you can see the glowing pieces from July 14 through August 24, the peak is only over a few nights, from August 11th to the 13th. If it’s a clear night, everyone should be able to see it, but this august is a different.
This year we’re really lucky that the peak is occurring on the same part of the month as the new moon, so there’s very little moonlight out.
Some years we aren’t as lucky because the peak is during a full moon, and the moonlight drowns out the show. If you want to see the meteors, you don’t need a telescope. Instead, head away from town lights, take a seat, and be patient. The best time to view the meteor shower is between 1AM and 3AM.
It takes 20 minutes pretty much for your eyes to adjust to the dark and then you’ll say oh there’s more of them now. No. They were there, you just couldn’t see them then.
Dr. Auld says that if you have several people together, a lot of the times two people will say oh there’s one, but they’re pointing in completely separate directions because there’s more than one at the same moment.
With Adventure Arkansas, and exploring the universe where you live, I’m 5NEWS Meteorologist Sabrina Bates.
Segment Sponsored By: Adventure Subaru