Go outside on Sunday, August 11th just after 9 p.m. andyou’ll see streaming meteors that will skim the atmospherehorizontally and leave colorful, long-lasting trails.
Space contains lots of small asteroids and comet dust. Whenthey hit the Earth’s atmosphere, they appear as fierystreaks of light. From August 11 through 13, the beautifulannual meteor shower called the Perseids will again appearin our skies. This space dust is small and moves fast?theparticles be moving at about 132,000 mph when they hit ouratmosphere.
“These meteors are extremely long,” says Robert Lunsford, ofthe International Meteor Organization. “I’ve never been ableto capture [one] on film. Being shy, they tend to hug thehorizon rather than shooting overhead where most cameras areaimed.”
If you don’t spot any on Sunday night, try again afternightfall on Monday, August 12th, when the shower will stillbe going on.
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