Promising Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Aug. 11–12
Here’s how to catch a shooting star, and what to expect
One long-ago November night when our kids were little — about 12, 11 and 1 — we got out of our bunk beds at a hunting lodge (cheaper than a motel) in the wee hours to throw our sleeping bags down on a tarp in a foggy, frigid, plowed field in Maryland, to catch a spectacular Leonid Meteor Storm. The fog was cold and dense, threatening to ruin the show. Then around 1 a.m., as the meteor storm began in earnest, the fog cleared to the fringes of the field. Shooting stars streaked across the coal-dark sky one, two, sometimes three at a time. It was one of the most amazing nights of my life. The kids slept through some of it, but my shouts of glee kept waking them. Our oldest son, who hadn’t expressed much interest in painting, surprised me a few days later with the above work of art.
Shooting stars are fleeting, but they leave indelible impressions.
So I want to tell you about the Perseid Meteor Shower—coming to a sky near you this weekend. This is among the most reliable meteor showers each year. Though never as spectacular as that once-in-a-lifetime Leonid storm, the Perseids promise to live up to that reputation of reliability, weather permitting. All you have to do is go outside and exercise a little patience in the…
