Universe in the Park, Perseid Meteor Shower this Weekend at Lake Maria State Park

What a great weekend to get out and see the Perseid Meteor Shower. 

And luckily, the University of Minnesota's Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics will be right down the road to help you do it. 

Friday night, the U of M will have volunteers at , located west of Monticello, for an evening of sky viewing. 

Though the shower hits its peak Saturday night into Sunday, there should still be plenty to see late Friday. 

Universe in the Park events begin with a short presentation, followed by sky observing until 10 or 11 p.m. The events are FREE, but the park may require a vehicle permit for entry.

Directions to Lake Maria State Park can be found here. 

The Perseids are a meteor shower visible when the Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. The meteor shower has been visible for about 2,000 years. The Swift-Tuttle comet orbits once every 133 years, according to NASA.

“The Perseids can be seen all over the sky, but the best viewing opportunities will be across the northern hemisphere,” according to a 2011 NASA release. “Those with sharp eyes will see that the meteors appear to radiate from the direction of the constellation Perseus.”

Viewing Tips

At its peak, the Perseids meteor shower could display up to 40 meteors per hour in the pre-dawn hours Sunday. The American Meteor Society recommends viewing this meteor shower between midnight and dawn Saturday and Sunday.

Space.com has these tips and more:

Get as far away from city and other artificial lights as possible. Meteor showers are best viewed in really dark skies. Try to keep the moon out of your field of vision, too.

Be patient. It may take your eyes a few minutes to adjust to the light and see the meteors.

You don’t need binoculars or a telescope – that will only limit the amount of sky you can see.