Kelseyville >> Friends of Taylor Observatory invites Lake County residents to see Perseids Thursday from 8:30 p.m. until about 1 a.m. at the observatory, located at the end of Oak Hills Lane in Kelseyville.
Included will be a lecture on meteors by Taylor astronomers plus showings of the planetarium show “Firefall.” In additional, guests can observe Mars, Saturn the moon and several deep sky objects through the observatory’s telescopes.
Guests should bring warm clothing and a ground cover or lawn chair for observing the meteors. There is no charge for this open-house evening at Taylor, but donations to benefit STEM education for Lake County schools are always appreciated.
Further information at 415 209-3084.
The Perseids program is the Window to the Universe event for August. Meteors showers occur when the orbit of the earth intersects the debris from a comet that passed through the solar system in the past. For example the Perseids meteors are remnants of Comet Swift – Tuttle. The 2016 shower may be a special one due to an expected enhancement which may double the rate of meteors.
According to NASA astronomers, Jupiter’s gravity has shifted the comet’s debris stream is such a way that collisions with the earth’s atmospheric shell will be increased, producing up to two times the normal 100-per-hour rate from dark sky locations.
