It's just before mid-August, and that means it's time for the Perseid meteor shower, the dazzling result of Earth passing through the debris trail left by Comet Swift-Tuttle. This brush with cosmic splendor, so named because following the trails of the meteors makes them appear to originate from the constellation Perseus, can produce more than 50 shooting stars in a given hour. The shower is predicted to reach peak intensity late tonight and toward dawn tomorrow, and the conditions couldn't be better: The interference from moonlight will be minimal (the moon has waned almost to its new phase, HT to EarthSky) and the forecast calls for clear skies (thanks, @NashSevereWX!)
However, I'm concerned about interference from the bright lights of the big city. The Dyer Observatory hosts its monthly Telescope Night this Friday at 9 p.m., and while it's still possible to catch some Perseid action (generally, the shower runs Aug. 10-14), it's still a little late. I made the above rough map by overlaying a Google map of the mid-state on a picture of the North America seen from space (see the original, produced by NASA in 2012). It's not an exact match — the projections are a little different; while Nashville is close to the right place, you can see that Clarksville and Bowling Green should be a bit further south, Atlanta further north, Knoxville further west, etc. — but it looks like going northeast or southwest are my best bets.
Are you an avid Perseid watcher? Where do you go for the best visibility? Tell us in the comments! I'm not saying I'll show up, but I'm not saying I won't bring some homemade granola with me if I do.
