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John Homenuk

Perseid outburst expected to make 2016’s shower special

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The Perseid meteor shower is always a highlight of the astronomical year, frequently bringing one of the most consistent meteor showers to the night sky in late summer. The warm weather and often favorable moon phases mean the Perseid’s are also one of the most comfortable meteor showers to enjoy. 2016 is expected to be even better than usual: An outburst of meteors is forecasted, resulting in nearly double the typical rate of meteors per hour during the showers peak from August 11th to 12th.

The meteor shower occurs each year as Earth passes through the debris tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, resulting in meteors for several days with a peak of 1-2 days typically in mid-August. Comet Swift-Tuttle is the largest known object to repeatedly pass by Earth, with a nucleus about 16 miles wide. It last passed by in 1992, and won’t pass again until 2126. Our respective orbits, however, mean that Earth passes through the debris trail of the comet every year.

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John Homenuk

Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight, here’s how to see it

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The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight into the early morning hours of Thursday, and astronomers are suggesting the potential for up to 100 meteors per hour.

There’s something humbling about laying in the grass and watching meteors streak throughout the night sky. The Perseid meteor shower provides arguably the best show of meteors in the night sky each year. Its annual occurrence during warm summer nights makes it easily the most comfortable meteor shower to watch of the bunch of “major” showers, many of which fall during the colder winter months. This year, a very dim moon will make viewing even more ideal during the peak of the meteor shower.

Why is the moonlight so important? To put it simply, it upstages the light of the meteors streaking throughout the sky. When the moon is full, you may still see meteors — but the smaller, dimmer activity (which is typically more frequent than the bright ones) is blocked out by the bright light of the moon in the sky. This year, the thin crescent moon is not expected to interfere at all.

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John Homenuk

Unsettled weather, and the return of the Perseids

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7 days into the month of August, and the general feeling in the air has been more autumn-like than anything else. How many times in the past several years have we been able to say that? Well, very few is the simple answer — Augusts have averaged much warmer and more humid than the first week of 2013’s. That being said, these things have a funny way of balancing themselves out. “Climo (climatology) will always catch up” is the famous saying throughout meteorology. We’ll see if it applies this month.

One thing is for sure, the low humidity and sun-filled weather of the past several days is on the way out. It’s hard not to notice it already this Wednesday morning. The culprit? A high pressure system (the one responsible for the gorgeous weather) is slipping offshore. As a result, surface winds have turned southeasterly — off the ocean waters. Moisture will slowly increase over the next 12-24 hours. The rain may hold off until the evening on Wednesday, as the atmosphere still needs some work (namely more moisture content) to be able to produce precipitation.

By Thursday, the atmosphere will have moistened up – and an approaching warm front will provide isentropic lift and promote the development of showers and thunderstorms. Much of the same is expected through Friday, with precipitable water values approaching 2″ by Friday near and ahead of a cold front.

Some more pleasant weather is on the horizon this weekend behind the front, but we have a few days of cloudy and stormy conditions to get through before we can enjoy the warm sun once again.

Perseid’s return to light up the night sky: The annual Perseid meteor shower returns over the next week – and stargazers will be excited to learn that this years shower once again looks promising. The shower actually began a few days ago, and will continue to increase in numbers each night until a peak between August 11th-13th. Clouds will obstruct any meteor viewing through Friday, but this weekend could offer some prime-time viewing. Stay tuned for more updates as the peak approaches!