This coming weekend will give us a chance to witness a spectacular show in the sky. It will be the peak period for the Perseids meteor shower. The peak activity should be the evening of Saturday, said John Heasley with the Iowa County Astronomers. “You can start watching that in the evening as soon as it gets dark, about 10 or so, but it’s really at its best after midnight,” he said.
The best places to view the Perseids are away from city lights. Once you get settled down on a site, the best place to look is about halfway up the sky facing the northeast. “What’s going to be good about it this year is that the moon will not be visible in the sky, so the meteor showers will be all the more visible. They won’t be competing with moonlight,” Heasley said.
People viewing the Perseid meteor shower in Wisconsin will probably see an average of 15-30 meteors per hour, but could see as many as 60-100 meteors per hour.
Ryan Zoellick, WRCO
