What direction are the meteor showers tonight?
Like all meteor showers, the Perseids will appear to occur ALL over the sky… Opinions differ slightly on this, but the general consensus is that no one area of the sky is clearly better than another. As a result, you’ll want to watch the part of the sky which is DARKEST, in order to see the most meteors: in other words, the part of the sky furthest from the moon tonight, and/or furthest from ANY manmade light sources. So face away from the moon, MAXIMIZE the amount of open sky you can see. The Perseid meteor shower has a wonderful and somewhat grisly history. Often referred to as the “Tears of St. Lawrence” this annual shower coincidentally occurs roughly about the same date as the saint’s death is commemorated on August 10. While scientifically we know the appearance of the shooting stars are the by-products of comet Swift-Tuttle, our somewhat more superstitious ancestors viewed them as the tears of a martyred man who was burned for his beliefs. Who couldn’t appreciate a fellow who
