Perseids, Delta Aquarids: Peak Weekend For Viewing Arrives In Tampa Bay

TAMPA, FL — Tampa Bay area stargazers might be in for a treat this weekend if the evening weather decides to cooperate. The vibrant Perseids meteor shower began last month as Earth passed through the path of the Comet Swift-Tuttle, but the shower known for its blazing bright meteors won’t peak until Saturday, Aug. 12. If your eyes feast on any meteors before then, they could be part of the Delta Aquarids meteor shower, which started in mid-July, peaked July 29 and 30, and continues through Sunday, Aug. 13.

If you look up in the Tampa Bay area at night this weekend, you might catch a glimpse of meteors. While the National Weather Service is calling for storm chances each night this weekend, rain is expected to clear out by about 9 p.m. or so each evening. Mostly cloudy skies are anticipated after storms move on, but that doesn’t mean lucky stargazers won’t be able to spot some of the streaking space debris.

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The Perseids put on a show so reliable and ooh-and-ahh worthy that fans plan around it with camping excursions and treks to dark sky preserves.

NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke advises stargazers to allow about 30 minutes for their eyes to adjust to the dark and then settle in for a few hours during the Perseids meteor shower peak. Those who are patient will be rewarded, he said, noting that stargazers should see about two or three a minute — some faint trails of light, others generating fireballs.

The Perseids meteor shower, the main act, is good for up to 150 meteors an hour, according to space.com. This year, a waning gibbous moon — one that appears less than half full but is more than half-lighted — could block out some of the fainter meteors, but the Perseids are so bright that you should still plan on catching the show. The meteors radiate from the constellation Perseus, but you’ll be able to see them no matter where you’re looking in the sky.

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The Perseids’ Aug. 12 peak comes when Earth passes through the densest, dustiest area of the wide path of Comet Swift-Tuttle — about 16 miles wide at its nucleus, according to space.com. The last time it passed near Earth was during its orbit of the sun in 1992, something that won’t happen again until 2126. The comet itself is a rare occurrence, but the annual meteor shower is a brilliant reminder of it.

The Delta Aquarids meteor shower also began in July, peaked July 28, and continues through Aug. 23. The show produces about 20 meteors an hour at its peak and is regarded as an average meteor shower most visible in the late-night and early-morning hours, according to seasky.org.

Meteors are pieces of comet debris that heat up as they enter the atmosphere then burn in a bright burst of light that streaks across the sky at up to 37 miles per second, according to space.com. Most of the Perseids meteors are so small — they’re about the size of a grain of sand — that they’ll never become “meteorites” that fall to the Earth.

— Story by Patch Editor Beth Dalbey

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images News/Getty Images