Mid-summer astronomy

Air Date:
Heard On The Larry Meiller Show

Larry Meiller finds out what to look for in the Wisconsin summer night skies, including several planets, and favorable conditions to view the Perseid meteor showers.

Featured in this Show

  • Perseid Meteor Showers Put On Show Each August

    There is no shortage of summer activities, but after dark, it can be hard to beat astronomy for an interesting and educational outing. Studying the nighttime sky can also be a great way to get children involved in appreciating science and nature.

    Luckily, one of the annual events that many look forward to is the Perseid meteor showers, and offers an ideal opportunity for novice stargazers.

    Why? As Astonomy magazine explains, “This annual shower seemingly has it all: It offers a consistently high rate of meteors year after year; it produces a higher percentage of bright ones than most other showers; it occurs in August when many people take summer vacation; and it happens at a time when nice weather and reasonable nighttime temperatures are common north of the equator. No other major shower can boast all four of these attributes.”

    Sometimes, however, the weather and atmosphere don’t always cooperate for optimal viewing. Dr. Jim Lattis, the director of the University of Wisconsin Space Place and a faculty associate in the Astronomy Department of UW-Madison, said that it “looks like it’s going to be a good year” for seeing the Perseids.

    Tom Hall, an optics specialist with Eagle Optics in Middleton, agrees with Lattis’ assessment. Hall said “the Moon is quite new, just during the 12th and 13th (of August) when (the Perseids) start up. … It will be quite dark any time after 10 p.m., after the Moon has set. (It) should be just about ideal conditions.”

    Lattis also has good advice for making the most of a Perseid outing.

    “The most important thing is to find a dark location if you want to observe meteors,” he said. “And that’s why the Moon messes things up … because there isn’t any dark location if there’s a full Moon. So, you look for a dark location.

    “If you don’t have the Moon to contend with, you want to think about then ‘Where do I go to avoid urban lights?’” he said. “And it can even help just to find a place where you don’t have any lights right in your eyes – in the shadow of a house, or something. Then, the next thing is to get comfortable, so lawn chairs are usually the best way to go for that. And then, you can look really look any time, although meteor activity picks up after midnight. The radiant point of the meteor shower gets higher in the sky as the night progresses. So midnight to dawn, in general, is the time to be out there.”

    They said amateur stargazers shouldn’t worry if they can’t make it out during the night on the peak dates of Aug. 12 and 13. Lattis explains that “it doesn’t happen all at once, so really for many days on either side of the predicted peak there should be lots of meteors. So, even if it’s cloudy on the predicted night of the peak, that’s no reason to give up. Because a few nights before, a few nights after should be fine.”

    Getting the gear together, heading out after dark and finding a good location might seem like a lot of work, but Lattis said he’s sure people will be happy they did.

    “It’s worth a late night,” he said.

    NASA produced a detailed video about the 2012 Perseid meteor shower. It includes information on how amateur astronomers can help NASA by submitting the tally of meteors that they see and using the Meteor Counter app.

Episode Credits

  • Jim Lattis Guest
  • Tom Hall Guest

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