August 8, 2010 - Dust Cloud
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Every summer about this time Earth enters into a cloud of dust left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Caught by Earth’s gravitational pull, some of this dust enters Earth’s atmosphere. When it does, viewers here on Earth experience a meteor shower. This year’s Perseid meteor shower peaks on the night of August 12 to 13 when the dust storm from space can produce between 40 and 80 meteors per hour. Meteors also occur a few days before and after the shower peaks, so any clear night this week should provide an opportunity to see a meteor streak across a dark sky. The best viewing time is after midnight when the dark side of the Earth moves into the dust cloud. Many consider this to be the best meteor shower of the year with the brightest meteors. Look to the northeast.

This is PPL's naturalist, Jon Beam, with the Nature Notebook for WVIA.