By Bob Ede

Both my dogs are over a hundred in ‘dog years’. They weren’t sure why we had to hike into the mountains before dark.

The Perseid Meteor Shower is an annual event, occurring at the end of July and running to mid August. This year the peak was predicted on the morning of August 12. The peak is when the most meteors can be seen. Some predictions estimate the peak at 100 meteors per hour.

You have a better chance of seeing meteors in a dark sky. This year was exceptional, because the moon set early leaving the hours between midnight and dawn dark as pitch.

The extra effort of escaping the lights of town can be especially rewarding.

Thus my slow hike with the senior citizens.

The next annual meteor shower is the Dracoinids on October 7 and 8.

To see a single falling star is miraculous to see hundreds in a night is spellbinding.

– The old dogs get extra tired on meteor nights. If it weren’t for the milkbones they would have left Bob Ede long ago. Bob can be reached via email at: [email protected]

Lead image: Milky Way hovering above the basin with Perseid Meteors

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