Posted on 08/08/2021 5:56:13 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: Earthlings typically watch meteor showers by looking up. But this remarkable view, captured on August 13, 2011 by astronaut Ron Garan, caught a Perseid meteor by looking down. From Garan's perspective onboard the International Space Station orbiting at an altitude of about 380 kilometers, the Perseid meteors streak below, swept up dust left from comet Swift-Tuttle heated to incandescence. The glowing comet dust grains are traveling at about 60 kilometers per second through the denser atmosphere around 100 kilometers above Earth's surface. In this case, the foreshortened meteor flash is right of frame center, below the curving limb of the Earth and a layer of greenish airglow, just below bright star Arcturus. Want to look up at a meteor shower? You're in luck, as the 2021 Perseids meteor shower peaks this week. This year, even relatively faint meteors should be visible through clear skies from a dark location as the bright Moon will mostly absent.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
Here in southern Arizona, cloudy nights are usual this time of year. Perseid viewing is seldom good.
bttt
Cloudy here. Glad to have this to look at. (I am a bit higher up than usual!)
Thanks for posting!
?...American Thinker...?
When the sky is clear, the Perseids - as seen from a beach-front deck on the Outer Banks of NC - are amazing.
One of the great memories of my life and travels.
We should be firing at our enemies from space.
Rods From God.
Gonna look this week if the skies co-operate.
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