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The Discriminating Guide to Adventure on the Mendocino Coast

The Perseid meteor shower will be peaking this Sunday evening, August 12, in the evening and up until dawn on Monday.  The Perseids can produce spurts of 60-80 meteors per hour, a most impressive sight. Because it’s a New Moon on Sunday night, there won’t be any light interference, and the skies are pretty black along the Coast here anyway. The shower is named after the constellation of Perseus, in the northern part of the sky, because the meteors will seem to radiate from that area. The only thing to consider is the possibility of fog in the night, obscuring any view of the sky. We do get fog off and on in August, and it can go in or out quickly. If you’re determined to see meteors, then plan your route to higher ground inland, such as going east on Highways 20 or 128. I’ve seen some pretty amazing meteors from the Perseids — large and green, with long tracks across the sky. The Perseids have produced 200 an hour in bursts in previous years, and it could always happen when you’re looking. It probably won’t produce that many, but it can easily be one every minute or so — plenty enough to be entertaining.

Posted: Saturday, August 11th, 2007 at 5:40 pm    
Filed under: events, favorites, general.
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