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The best meteor shower of the year is expected to peak this week, and while the fog will likely obscure the cosmic spectacle on the coast, you may be able to see the blazing fireballs from the high altitudes and inland valleys.
The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak very early in the morning of Thursday, August 12, said Gerald McKeegan, assistant astronomer at Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland. The best time to see the Perseids should be from 11 p.m. on August 11 to 3 a.m. on August 12.
“The Moon will set early on the evening of the 11th, so we’ll have dark skies and very good viewing conditions,” McKeegan wrote in an email. “Under ideal conditions, observers can see up to 100 meteors per hour.”
The Perseids light up the sky every year around mid-August when Earth passes through the cloud of debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle, and the meteor shower appears to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky.
“As the comet revolves around the Sun, it leaves behind a trail of dust, grains of rock and pebbles that form a stream of particles orbiting the Sun,” McKeegan wrote. “As these particles enter and burn in Earth’s atmosphere, we experience a meteor shower.”
For the best views of the Perseid meteor shower, you’ll want to find a site on a clear sky away from the city lights.
Fog is expected to penetrate inland areas of the San Francisco Bay Area during the week, and forecaster David King said you may have to travel as far east as Livermore or even into the Central Valley to see the show.
The fog is expected to be 1,500 to 2,000 feet deep, King said, so Mount Tampalpais at 2,600 feet in Marin and Mount Diablo at 3,800 feet in East Bay are both good options.
Another weather factor is at play: Moisture from the desert southwest monsoon could make its way to northern California by midweek, but the forecast is still growing.
“There could be high clouds at this time,” said weather service meteorologist Jeff Lorber. “It might make it difficult to see the sky. I’m not saying they won’t be able to see it. But visibility might be affected.”
If you’re looking for the show, McKeegan said to forget about the binoculars or the telescope.
“Meteors are best seen with the naked eye when they pass through large parts of the sky,” he wrote. “Although the meteors appear to be coming from the east, from the constellation Perseus, meteors can appear in any part of the sky. So it is best to find a comfortable position from which you can see large parts. Lying on a blanket in a grassy field on top of a mountain would provide the optimum viewing opportunity. “
King added that the weather forecast will likely change slightly over the course of the week, and anyone looking to catch the flaming fireballs should check the forecast on Wednesday to get a clear idea of how far the fog will grow in the interior. land.
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