Tonight the Planets and Perseids Put on a Show For Free

By Nancy Atkinson - August 12, 2010 at 7:41 AM UTC | Observing
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Just a reminder: It's time to head up on the roof, to the backyard, the pasture, the mountaintop --- wherever you have to go to get away from city lights and watch the Perseid meteor shower. But this year, there's the added show of a planetary conjuction right at sunset. Venus, Saturn, Mars, tiny Mercury and the crescent Moon pop out of the western twilight in tight conjunction. But then stay tuned to the sky for the Perseids. If you haven't been out to see them yet, Thursday, August 12 and Friday August 13 should be the peak, and already some locations have been reporting 70-80 meteors an hour. No telescope is required to enjoy these two naked-eye events. See below for a sky map and tips on how to share your experience.

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Want to share the event via Twitter? Follow the hashtag #Meteorwatch and see the

Meteorwatch website

for all you need to know about watching the Perseids.

Meteorwatch even has a map of incoming meteors being reported on Twitter

. Very cool!

There will also be live coverage on

AstronomyFM

If you would like to contribute to science, the

British Astronomical Society has a report form

where you can submit how many meteors you are seeing.

The International Meteor Organization also has an online report form.

A

nd Oana Sandu from the BAA has a list of tips for watching the meteor shower.

On Thursday, Aug. 12, from 3-4 p.m. EDT, astronomer Bill Cooke from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center will answer questions in a live chat about the Perseids and the best ways to view it.

To view and join the chat, go to this link on Aug. 12

a few minutes before 3 p.m. EDT. A chat window will be active at the bottom of the page. Log in, then Bill will start answering your questions at 3:00 EDT. And then...stay up all night with NASA! Later that night -- Aug. 12 -- from 11:00 p.m. to 5 a.m. EDT, Bill will take your questions via Web chat. You can also "listen" to the Perseids on

that page.

And for more detailed info about this year's Perseid Meteorshower,

check out our own article by astronomer Tammy Plotner!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com