American Meteor Society and the Perseids

The Perseid meteor shower is peaking this week, be sure to join us for our virtual program Wednesday 8/12 @ 6:00 PM to learn more about this meteor shower and how best to view it! Email Lexie Martinez at LBmartin@cityofwestminster.us to register.

Although the Perseids get a lot of coverage because of its high activity level, meteor showers are actually quite common throughout the year, with many observable with the unaided eye. The American Meteor Society is devoted to studying these events in great detail. Here’s an article with some more technical information on observing the Perseids this year:

Meteor Activity Outlook for August 8-14, 2020

During this period, the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Tuesday August 11th. At this time, the moon is located 90 degrees west of the sun and rises between 23:00 and midnight local daylight saving time (LDST on August 10/11) .

If you’re interested in contributing to the American Meteor Society’s research, there are many ways to report your visual observations or photographic records. The AMS is particularly interested in fireball reporting. Fireballs are spectacularly bright, short-lived meteors that light up the entire sky momentarily, typically bright enough to cast shadows and even see color by. There was a fireball captured on video over Golden, CO recently, and there’s always a chance of fireballs happening around the time of heightened meteor activity like the Perseids. If you see one, the AMS has a special page for you to submit your observations, you can visit it here: 

American Meteor Society Report a Fireball: it's fun and easy!

We are going to ask you to fill an interactive form that is intended to be easy to fill out for anyone.Please, be as precise as you can. Your report is important, it alerts us to potentially scientifically significant events that occur, and contributes to the general database of knowledge about meteors.You will have the opportunity to give us all the details about your sighting experience at the end of the form.

The AMS has several ongoing meteor studies that you can read about on their site, visit 

American Meteor Society

by During this period, the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Tuesday August 11th. At this time, the moon is located 90 degrees west of the sun and rises between 23:00 and midnight local daylight saving time (LDST on August 10/11) .

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