Tonight is a good night to see meteors. Comet dust will rain down on planet Earth, streaking through dark skies [ http://science.nasa…] in the annual Perseid meteor shower [ http://en.wikipedia…]. While enjoying the anticipated [ http://liftoff.msfc…meteors/Showers.html ] space weather, astronomer Fred Bruenjes recorded a series of many 30 second long exposures spanning about six hours on the night of 2004 August 11/12 using a wide angle lens. Combining those frames which captured meteor flashes [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], he produced this dramatic view of the Perseids of summer [ http://www.earthsky…]. Although the comet dust particles are traveling parallel to each other, the resulting shower meteors clearly seem to radiate from a single point on the sky in the eponymous constellation [ http://stardate.org…] Perseus. The radiant effect is due to perspective [ http://mathforum.or…perspect.html ], as the parallel tracks appear to converge at a distance. Bruenjes notes that there are 51 Perseid meteors in the composite image [ http://www.moonglow…index.html#perseids ], including one seen nearly head-on. This year, the Perseids [ http://science.nasa…] Meteor Shower is expected to peak after midnight tonight, in the moonless early morning hours of August 12.
