With only partly cloudy skies forecast over Woodbridge, we should be able to get a good view of the Perseids meteor shower, which is set to peak this weekend.
The forecast for Saturday and Sunday nights is for partly cloudy skies with overnight low temperatures around 70 degrees.
The Perseids are a meteor shower visible when the Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. The meteor shower has been visible for about 2,000 years. The Swift-Tuttle comet orbits once every 133 years, according to NASA.
“The Perseids can be seen all over the sky, but the best viewing opportunities will be across the northern hemisphere,” according to a 2011 NASA release. “Those with sharp eyes will see that the meteors appear to radiate from the direction of the constellation Perseus.”
Viewing Tips
At its peak, the Perseids meteor shower could display up to 40 meteors per hour in the pre-dawn hours Sunday. The American Meteor Society recommends viewing this meteor shower between midnight and dawn Saturday and Sunday.
Space.com has these tips and more:
Get as far away from city and other artificial lights as possible. Meteor showers are best viewed in really dark skies. Try to keep the moon out of your field of vision, too.
Be patient. It may take your eyes a few minutes to adjust to the light and see the meteors.
You don’t need binoculars or a telescope – that will only limit the amount of sky you can see.
Do you know of a great location? Share it in the comments section below!
Manassas National Battlefield Park The Henry Hill Visitor Center closes at 5:00 PM 6511 Sudley Road Manassas, VA 20109 Directly across the road, RT-234 [Sudley Road], from the Henry Hill Visitor Center entrance is a country road. I have not been there for several years. I use to take night images there. Lots of open areas there. Also Astronomers use to setup their equipment there. Good Luck. Like I said, I have not been there for years. I used Google Earth and it still looks open.
It's going to be hard to see the shower in the eastern end of the county because of light pollution. PWC parks close at dusk tonight, so the best bet would be to head west of Manassas to more open land. Also, because tonight's weather is expected to be stormy, the cloud cover could obscure any chance for us to see the shower.
Saturday – 8/11/2012 Report Options: Time Temps Wind Chill Heat Index UV Index Dew Point Relative Humidity Precip Snow Clouds Visibility Wind Weather 7 PM 83° 83° 86° 0 Low 66° 56% 20% 0% 67% 10mi 16KM SSW 8mph M Cloudy 8 PM 81° 81° 84° 0 Low 67° 62% 10% 0% 72% 10mi 16KM SSW 7mph M Cloudy 9 PM 79° 79° 82° 0 Low 68° 69% 10% 0% 75% 10mi 16KM SSW 6mph M Cloudy 10 PM 77° 77° 80° 0 Low 68° 74% 10% 0% 80% 10mi 16KM SSW 6mph Cloudy 11 PM 75° 75° 75° 0 Low 67° 76% 10% 0% 80% 10mi 16KM SW 5mph Cloudy Today Tomorrow Next Day Sunday – 8/12/2012 Report Options: Time Temps Wind Chill Heat Index UV Index Dew Point Relative Humidity Precip Snow Clouds Visibility Wind Weather 7 PM 84° 84° 86° 0 Low 63° 49% 10% 0% 22% 10mi 16KM W 4mph M Sunny 8 PM 82° 82° 84° 0 Low 64° 54% 10% 0% 20% 10mi 16KM WNW 3mph M Sunny 9 PM 79° 79° 81° 0 Low 64° 60% 10% 0% 20% 10mi 16KM WNW 3mph M Clear 10 PM 77° 77° 79° 0 Low 64° 64% 0% 0% 15% 10mi 16KM WNW 3mph Clear 11 PM 75° 75° 75° 0 Low 65° 71% 0% 0% 12% 10mi 16KM NW 3mph Clea ore from Int