Keep Your Eye on the Sky: Perseid Meteor Shower Viewing Tips

New research by NASA has identified the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on Aug. 12 and 13 and promises to produce more fireballs than any other.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac offers these meteor shower viewing tips:

• To answer the most common question: Yes, you can see these meteor showers from ANYWHERE in the sky, provided it's clear and dark, away from all the city lights.
• Where to look? The best place to start is near the radiant or "point of origin" of the meteor shower. This is where the flight course starts from.
• On below chart, see the "date of maximum" which shows when meteor showers will be the strongest.
• Note that the "best viewing" times are usually predawn and late evening—when the Earth turns into the path of meteoroids as they enter the Earth's atmosphere.
• You don't need any special equipment. In fact, binoculars do not work for meteor showers. The naked eye is best. Spread a blanket on the ground and look up in the dark night sky.

Three More Things to Do

1. Operation Kidsafe: Free child safety event runs from 1-7 p.m. Friday (Aug. 9) and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (Aug. 10) at the Will County Farm Bureau, 100 Manhattan Road, Joliet. Official digital fingerprinting of children.

2. Firefly 5K: Registration/check-in is at 5 p.m. Saturday (Aug. 8) at the Heritage Crossings Field House in Channahon. The race begins at 7 p.m. Cost is $35 (day of race). Refreshments will be served and the first 300 runners will receive Firefly 5K T-shirts.

3. Troy Titans Tryouts: Part-time travel baseball team tryouts for 10-under boys who also play in-house ball at Troy. Tryouts will be from 9-11 a.m. Saturday at the Troy Mustang Field (Lou Von Fields, 21961 S. River Road, Shorewood). For more information, call Jim Selinger (815) 545-0299.