Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 9, 1993 TAG: 9308100063
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CELESTE KATZ STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Or it might not.
Some years, the peak of the annual summer shower has given viewers a "Star Wars"-esque show of more than 100 shooting stars per hour.
In other years, there hasn't been much to talk or gawk about.
As Wednesday night, the peak of this year's shower, approaches, most skywatchers are unwilling to make a prediction about how much of a show this year's shower will provide.
The meteors "could be quite bright, rivalling some of the brightest stars in they sky," said John Simonetti, an associate professor of physics at Virginia Tech. "But it's not obvious yet what this one's going to do."
The good news, according to the experts, is that Earth just crossed through the parent comet's trail of dust and ice - and that could mean more shooting stars, which appear as bright streaks across the night sky.
The bad news is that clouds might easily obscure the sky Wednesday night, or that North American viewers may be disappointed because the prime viewing sites may turn out to be in Europe or Asia, depending on the exact course the debris cloud takes.
The Hopkins Planetarium in downtown Roanoke predicts that even though the best time to view the meteors is between midnight and dawn, 50 to 80 shooting stars per hour may be visible after dark.
"Hundred of fast-moving and colorful meteors will vaporize into streaks of light giving Earthlings a phenomenal view of `fireworks a la Mother Nature'," raves a planetarium information sheet.
In the Roanoke Valley, the best way to see the show, barring a cloudy or hazy night, is simply to go someplace dark and look up. Gary Close of the Hopkins Planetarium recommends that meteor-watchers in Roanoke head north of the city - perhaps to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which lies away from light pollution. Bright lights will distort a viewer's night vision, making the distinctive meteor streaks seem dimmer or even invisible. Meteors should be visible all over the sky, but viewers may want to stand facing north or east.
The streaks of light are produced when chunks of the comet, called meteorites, strike Earth's atmosphere at speeds of more than 130,000 mph and vaporize 60 to 70 miles above the ground. If the streak is particularly bright, the meteorite may be referred to as a fireball.
Meteors can be seen nearly every night of the year, but showers like the Perseid, which have occured for more than 2000 years, are easiest to see.
The Perseid shower occurs every August when Earth plows through the trail left by the Swift-Tuttle comet, which passes the sun every 130 years and was thought to be lost until 1992.
Usually, the Perseid shower allows viewers with the right positioning and timing to see dozens of meteors an hour at the peak. The shower is named for the constellation Perseus because the meteors appear to originate there.
The Hopkins Planetarium is conducting a skywatch excursion to the Peaks of Otter Wednesday night, beginning at 7 p.m. A first-come first-served shuttle will be available for $2.50. For more information, call the Science Museum of Western Virginia at 342-5710.
If the conditions are right, there may be brilliant bursts during the Perseid shower that give skywatcher the impression that the meteors will strike the ground, but don't worry. According to Simonetti, "no one will have to duck."
by CNB