Last Chance To Catch Perseid Meteor Shower In SoCal
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — You still have one more chance to catch the Perseid meteor shower over the skies of Southern California.
While the annual summertime stargazing event reached its peak during the early morning hours of Tuesday, scientists with the Griffith Observatory say you will be able to catch a glimpse of up to 60 meteors per hour from 11 p.m. until dawn.
The Observatory's Dr. Ed Krupp told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO this will be the last chance stargazers get to see the spectacle in 2013.
Dr. Ed Krupp
"If they miss it tonight, they can come back next year," Krupp said. "It really began last night because the peak occurred during the day time, so we have two good nights of the shower."
While the Griffith Observatory will be closed after 10 p.m., Krupp urged observers to visit other good viewing areas, including campgrounds of the San Gabriel Mountains, the Angeles National Forest, Cleveland National Forest, Los Padres National Forest, the Mojave Desert, and Anza Borrego Desert.
To optimize your meteor shower viewing, Krupp recommended not looking at any lights (including cell phone displays) for at least 15 minutes before watching, as well as finding a comfortable reclining chair that will allow you to look up toward the northeast for the show.
According to NASA, the Perseids have been observed for at least 2,000 years and are associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years.
Each year in August, the Earth passes through a cloud of the comet's debris. These bits of ice and dust -- most more than 1,000 years old -- burn up in the Earth's atmosphere to create one of the best meteor showers of the year.
Click here for more tips on how to best watch the Perseids meteor shower.
