Miami Valley styles
Cold weather arrives
'Tis the Season Festival
Meteor shower adds a little flash to weekend skies
The annual Perseid meteor shower is the result of Earth passing through the remnants of a comet. The shower is expected to peak Sunday night through Monday morning.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Dan Fleisch doesn't want to be misunderstood.
This isn't Kings Island-type fireworks, not even the backyard kind.
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But if you take the time to look into the night sky from a dark place Sunday night through Monday morning, you might see a show.
The Perseid meteor shower peaks then, and Fleisch, a professor of physics at Wittenberg University, wants to prepare anyone, but especially children, about what there is to see. "A kid will hear about the meteor shower and maybe his expectation is MTV razzle-dazzle with meteors everywhere, like the weathermen are showing," Fleisch said. "It's not going to be like that. But if it's clear, he will see probably about one a minute, 60 to 80 in an hour."
The sky show is the result of Earth moving through the remnants of the comet Swift-Tuttle. The comet has left fragments in its orbit, some as small as a grain of sand, others as large as a pebble. The more remnants, the better the show.
The moon is in a new phase Sunday night, so that will increase the chances of good viewing.
And the greatest part of all is that it's easy to get a seat. Fleisch's advice is to get away from bright city lights. Take a reclining lawn chair or sleeping bag and about 11 p.m., look into the sky.
Wittenberg's observatory and Caesar Creek State Park are hosting meteor-watching events.
"Some people tell you to look to the constellation Perseus to see where the meteors are coming from," Fleisch said. "But really, there's nowhere that's a bad place to look."
Just don't expect the MTV razzle-dazzle.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2162 or
jcunningham@DaytonDailyNews.com.
How to view
Looking for somewhere to go to watch the Perseid meteor shower?
Dan Fleisch will be at Weaver Observatory on Wittenberg's campus on Ward Street in Springfield for the Perseid Meteor Shower on Sunday. If the skies are clear, he will be there from 10 p.m. until midnight.
The Miami Valley Astronomical Society and the Cincinnati Astronomical Society will sponsor a meteor watch party on the beach at Caesar Creek State Park off Ohio 73 east of Waynesville tonight. The park will allow campers on the beach and there is no camping fee. Members of the societies will set up their telescopes for an all-night stargaze. Games, crafts, reading of star maps and viewing of planets.
