'Celestial Fireworks' from Perseid Meteor Showers to Light Up the Sky Aug.
11-12!

08.05.05

Steve Roy
Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, Alabama
(Phone: 256.544.0034)

Media Advisory: 05-134

Attention: News Directors
Thursday, Aug. 11
Free Interviews Available

'Celestial Fireworks' from Perseid Meteor Showers to Light Up the Sky Aug.
11-12!

Thursday, Aug. 11, through Friday, Aug. 12, is the best period to observe
the annual Perseid meteor shower -- when tiny bits and pieces of the Comet
Swift-Tuttle "shower" Earth's skies.

Perseids appear each August as Earth passes close to the comet's orbit
around the Sun. Swift-Tuttle is a large comet -- its nucleus is about 10
miles across -- and dumps considerable dust and debris, creating meteors
near Earth.

The Perseid shower is one of two "showy" annual meteor showers -- the other
the Geminids shower in December -- that has meteor rates high enough to
capture the attention of even the most casual sky watcher.

Astronomers say people all around the world can expect to see the "celestial
fireworks," which will hurl pieces of meteors at a rate of nearly 100 per
hour on the night of Aug. 11. At its peak in 1993, the Perseid meteor shower
had rates over three times normal - about 350 meteors per hour.

Optimum viewing occurs under clear skies, after the Moon sets. England and
western Europe will be the best places to observe the maximum shower.
However, the shower will not disappoint those on the other side of the
Atlantic, where sky watchers with good, clear skies may see as many as 80
meteors per hour.

To interview a NASA expert about the Perseid meteor shower, contact Steve
Roy in the Public and Employee Communications Office of NASA's Marshall
Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

To schedule interviews: Steve Roy,
Public and Employee Communications Office
(256) 544-0034

Visit the Marshall Center News Web site for news media at:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news


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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info