Perseids 2015 meteor shower ‘should be fun’ with new moon says UI astronomer

Here's the advice from one University of Iowa astronomer.

Ditch your bed, and grab a lawn chair instead - at least for the next few nights.

'Have a drink and just enjoy it,” said Robert L. Mutel, a professor in the UI Department of Physics and Astronomy, who himself is planning to find a spot to stargaze Tuesday and maybe Wednesday night.

'It should be fun,” he said.

Every year, Earth crosses the orbit of a comet called Swift-Tuttle - along with its tail of fragments that burn up as they enter the atmosphere - creating a meteor shower of 'shooting stars.”

The Perseid meteor shower - named after the constellation Perseus, where the meteors seem to originate in the sky - typically peaks between Aug. 11-13 and is a bit unpredictable in how busy and bright it will be, which Mutel said is part of the fun.

'There are thousands of particles and debris, and you don't know where there will be concentrations,” Mutel said. 'Twelve years ago, there was a spectacular Perseid meteor shower. The sky was almost lit up constantly for hours.”

This year's show is shaping up to be a good one, Mutel said. For starters, he said, the show is expected to peak just before the new moon Friday - meaning the moon will be in a crescent phase and not up for most of the night.

Those blackout conditions, paired with a forecast for clear overnight skies across Eastern Iowa all week, could create ideal viewing for anyone willing to stay up and outside late, Mutel said.

'They should be quite bright - some bright enough to cast a shadow,” he said.

Mutel also suggested getting out of town, away from any light pollution in your neighborhood, and spending an hour or so with your eyes to the sky.

'It's worth it if you're going to stay out after midnight to get a good spot that's dark,” he said.

Jasper Halekas, a UI associate professor in physics and astronomy, said the Perseids tend to be among the best meteor showers visible from Earth every year, and finds them particularly interesting from the perspective of his work with the moon. Because the moon doesn't have an appreciable atmosphere, he said, the cometary particles don't burn up but instead impact the Moon's surface, kicking up plumes of dust.

If you were on the moon, according to Halekas, you wouldn't see shooting stars but perhaps little jets of dust exploding from the surface.

'If you were extraordinarily unlucky enough to be hit yourself, you probably would not be very happy - since you'd have a hole in your spacesuit,” he said.

Perseids facts and figures

100

- the approximate number of shooting stars that can be seen an hour, under clear, dark skies

133,000 mph

- the approximate rate at which the meteors enter the Earth's atmosphere

133 years

- the orbital period for the Swift-Tuttle comet

2126

- the year the comet is expected to make its next closest approach to the sun

30 to 50 miles

- the distance from the Earth's surface that the comet particles burn up in the atmosphere

Grain of sand

- the size of most of the comet particles, visible during the Perseids shower

Source: Robert L. Mutel, a professor in the UI Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the American Meteor Society