Comet Dust, Dead Ahead

Right on schedule, the annual Perseid meteor shower peaks on Monday morning, August 13th. The best viewing will be from midnight to 4 am, so a Sunday afternoon/evening nap is definitely justified. This year's cosmic fireworks show should be especially good, since the moon won't be in the sky at the time. You can expect to see 1 to 2 meteors a minute, especially if you are in an area away from city lights and you follow these suggestions.

The Perseid shower occurs every August as the Earth plows through the debris field left by comet Swift-Tuttle. Most of the material is the size of a grain of sand, and since it impacts the atmosphere at a brisk 37 miles per second, it burns up quickly.