TONIGHT'S PEAK OF THE MOONLIT PERSEID METEOR SHOWER - JUPITER & VENUS CLOSEST PRE-DAWN 8/12/25
HEY, SPACE PLACERS!
A bright Perseid
Greg Redfern
It is a BUSY time in the sky https://wtop.com/the-space-place/2025/08/whats-up-in-the-sky-for-august-2025-summer-triangle-perseid-meteor-shower-and-more/ with the bright waning gibbous moon competing with the predicted overnight peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower/ followed by bright Jupiter and Venus at their closest the morning of the 12th https://www.universetoday.com/articles/see-venus-meet-jupiter-in-the-dawn-sky .
Jupiter and brighter Venus 8-10-25
Greg Redfern iPhone
The Perseids will peak overnight but it is worthwhile to get out tomorrow night as well. Start watching after 11 p.m. local time and especially the hours before dawn to look for them. The best place to watch the Perseids is somewhere free of city lights that offers a clear view of the whole sky. Being comfortable is key to watching the shower.
At a dark sky site with no moon present one can count on seeing up to a 100 meteors an hour. This year the bright and almost full moon will reduce the number to a predicted 30-40 per hour. These will be bright meteors and the Perseids produce a lot of fireballs - meteors that are brighter than Venus.
Here are some tips on how to view the Perseids in moonlight and photograph hem https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/moon-or-not-the-perseid-meteor-shower-is-on/?utm_source=cc&utm_medium=newsletter .
The BAD news is WTOP Weather https://wtop.com/weather/ is giving us a forecast of fog and clouds but the GOOD news is that there could be breaks in the overcast. Depending on how large these “sucker holes” are - a term astronomers use for holes in cloud cover - meteors might be seen.
Big Meadows, Shenandoah National Park https://www.nps.gov/shen/index.htm has a good forecast https://www.cleardarksky.com/c/BgMdwsVAkey.html?1 . Delaware North https://www.goshenandoah.com/ and Charlottesville Astronomical Society https://cvilleastro.com/ will be hosting a wonderful event tonight https://www.goshenandoah.com/activities-events/astronomy/night-skies starting at 7:45 pm, weather permitting, for the Perseids and telescopic views of the sky.
If it is cloudy where you live you can still enjoy the Perseids - and meteors at any time - by tuning in to live radar https://www.livemeteors.com/ to HEAR the Perseids. This includes day time hours as well.
Here’s to clear skies!
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