Perseid meteor shower

This past weekend was the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, which was, unfortunately, for the most part drowned out by the reflected light from our lovely old Moon.

The Perseids are streaks of light across our night sky caused by burning debris left behind by the Comet Swift-Tuttle, which visits our region of the solar system about once every 130 years.

Swift-Tuttle last came near the sun in December 1992 and because meteor showers are often richest when their parent comets are nearby, the Perseid meteor shower is spectacular each year that the moon is out of the way. The number of meteors seen was 90 during the 1990s, in contrast to about 60 meteors per hour in the preceding decades.

The peak of the 2006 Perseid meteor shower was Saturday morning, August 12, but there will be a few nights left this week to watch for stragglers. But even that will take dedication as it is best to watch for meteors after midnight, because Earth has turned in respect to its orbit around the sun.

If you want to see meteors, a good time to schedule a camping trip would be from about August 19 until the end of the month, or into early September. It's best to be outside in the wee hours reclining on a lawn chair or blanket gazing casually upward with friends and family, watching for random meteors.

However, don't feel bad if you missed the Perseid meteor shower, there are some regular scheduled meteor showers coming up later this fall: Orionids, October 22; Leonids, November 18; Geminids, December 14.

If you want to capture images of the events, set your camera to the equivalent of the "bulb" setting and go to manual for digital cameras. (For today's cameras it is best to start out with a fresh battery, as it takes power to keep the shutter open.) Set the F-stop to f5.6 or 8 and leave it open for at least 30 minutes. Keep extraneous light away from the camera or it will ruin the night image.

And have fun - that's what star parties are all about.