THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, August 11, 1994              TAG: 9408110546
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY JAMES SCHULTZ, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   34 lines

ANNUAL DISPLAY FROM PERSEID COULD BECOME METEOR ``STORM''

As if comets exploding inside Jupiter weren't enough of a summer spectacle for Hampton Roads skygazers, another celestial light show will be on view the next few nights. The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to hit its peak around 3 a.m. Friday. Bits of debris trailing Comet Swift-Tuttle will disintegrate in bursts of light and color in the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere.

In a good year, weather permitting, viewers can expect to see up to 60 meteors an hour. Some astronomers have predicted the shower of '94 could turn into a ``storm,'' during which hundreds of meteors might be glimpsed.

The weather forecast for Thursday night calls for partly cloudy skies, light winds and a low in the lower 70s.

For optimum viewing, find a dark spot away from artificial light, with a clear patch of sky. It may take as long as 20 minutes for your eyes to adapt.

Skywatchers can start their meteor vigil shortly after 10 p.m. That's when the 5-day-old moon will set.

Meteors originate as dusty, astronomical debris that, once caught within the pull of planetary gravity, burn up traveling through air. Each year, in mid-August, Earth's orbit intersects the path of Comet Swift-Tuttle, capturing and destroying the particles that swarm behind the comet. by CNB