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Meteor Shower

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Quadrantid Meteor Shower Peaks Early Thursday

The first meteor shower of 2013 originates from an asteroid.

Cloud cover and moonlight could obscure the Quadrantid Meteor Shower early Thursday in Montgomery County. A Weather Underground forecast predicts cloud cover of 30-40 percent in the area. According to NASA, the meteor rates will increase after midnight and peak between 3 a.m. and dawn. To get the best view, get away from city lights and go outside early to let your eyes adjust to the night sky. To find the right section of the sky to watch, first locate the Big Dipper, Meteor Blog recommends. Then you'll be able to more easily locate the Bootes constellation nearby, where the meteors will appear to radiate from. Although the maximum number of meteors per hour is around 120, the strong light of the waning gibbous moon will make fainter …

Thursday, August 9, 2012

When and Where to View the Perseids Meteor Shower

Check out our tips and suggestions for where and when to view the Perseids this weekend in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

With the weather forecast to be clear before dawn on Sunday, you may have the opportunity to witness the Perseids meteor shower (so-called because the Perseids—debris from an old comet—seem to emanate from the constellation Perseus). Head to an open location, such as a park or open field, as far from artificial light as possible in order to see the Perseids meteor shower at its peak. The Perseids are a meteor shower visible when the Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet, which orbits once every 133 years, according to NASA.   "Every year in early August, Earth passes through the comet Swift-Tuttle's orbit and sweeps up some of this debris. As the tiny rocks encounter the thin upper atmosphere of the Earth, the air is …

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