Perseid meteor shower peaks midweek amid cloudy Bay Area skies
The Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak from Wednesday night into early Thursday, but cloud cover and fog may limit visibility in the Bay Area, prompting several indoor watch parties and online streams.
A new moon on Wednesday will make California skies unusually dark, creating optimal conditions for the annual Perseid meteor shower, which is expected to peak between the evening of Aug. 12 and the early morning of Aug. 13. Astronomers say the shower can produce 50 to 100 meteors per hour, including bright fireballs, as Earth passes through debris left by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
"What’s happening is that Earth is crossing the path of a very old comet that, over its lifetime, has left this trail of tiny fragments of ice and dust up in the sky," said Bruce Macintosh, director of the University of California Observatories and professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. "As Earth crosses that path, some of them hit the atmosphere and burn up. ... It’s everybody’s best chance to actually see little meteors, big meteors, fireballs streaking across the sky."
Macintosh added that observers need only lie on their backs and allow their eyes about 30 minutes to adjust; binoculars or telescopes are unnecessary. He noted that modest darkness, such as that found in parks or hills away from city lights, is sufficient for viewing.
However, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Francisco warned that a pattern of clouds and fog is forecast for the Bay Area from evening through morning, complicating outdoor viewing. "We also have a weak disturbance sliding through the Central Coast south of San Francisco," said Matt Mehle. "Usually, the rule of thumb is head inland or head up in elevation, but we’re still going to be dealing with some mid- and upper-level clouds streaming overhead, so the viewing of meteors midweek is still going to be hard."
Southern California may see clearer skies in inland areas, according to a San Diego weather service meteorologist, while the Sierra Nevada is expected to have 50% to 60% sky coverage. Smoke from ongoing wildfires could also affect visibility.
Several Bay Area venues are hosting indoor watch parties, including the Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland, the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, the Robert Ferguson Observatory in Napa County, and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park in Sonoma County. When fog prevents outdoor viewing, Chabot plans to simulate the meteor shower in its planetarium, said adjunct astronomer Gerald McKeegan. NASA will stream the event live on YouTube starting at 9 p.m. Pacific time.
In addition to the meteor shower, a total solar eclipse will occur on Wednesday, though it will not be visible from California. Live coverage featuring footage from Iceland and Spain will be provided by the California Academy of Sciences and NASA.