PERSEIDS
Have you ever curled up in the bed of your truck with a blanket, a cooler of snacks, warm, red wine, and settled back to fall asleep before the meteor shower? I have. Then there was the year I camped out on the back porch in a sleeping bag. Nope. Another year I was rained on. Awake, but wet and the sky was cloudy. The years I lived in the cities were a blur. There was one city in southern California where I lived; I lived there for six weeks before I realized there were mountains visible from our second-floor windows. Didn’t see any meteors there, either.
This year’s going to be different! I live in a rural setting, surrounded by woods, not streetlights.
This year will be it!
August 11-13 will be the most active viewing time in 2025 for the Perseid Meteor shower. For those with sharp eyes, apparently not me, the shower starts mid-July. The Comet Swift-Tuttle last passed us in 1992, but every year we pass through the debris left by its tail. The meteoroids (meteorites before they enter the Earth’s atmosphere) are mostly about the size of a mustard seed to a peppercorn.
Most years you (not me) can see 100 – 200 meteorites an hour hit the atmosphere at over 133,000 mph. They are visible at roughly 60 miles above ground and are hurtling downward, burning, at 3000 degrees Fahrenheit.
So, this year, when you are in your deer stand, treehouse, the middle of a dark intersection, or on your roof, think about me and click-count your sightings. Let Peddler’s Post know how many you counted.
It pains me to have to say, however, NASA is warning that since the peak viewing is a scant three days from a full moon, fainter sparks may not be visible.
However, in 2028, there is an expected, veritable storm coming. Mark your calendar now. Meet me in the Gulf on a boat at 11:00…
