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Sky Reminder: Perseids

If you want to watch meteors this year, check out the Perseid meteor shower tonight. It's probably going to be the best one of the year. Although the moon is rather large (83% of visible disk illuminated), it should set around 1:01 am, leaving the darkest part of the night undisturbed. The sun should rise at 5:43 am, but it will begin to (slightly) lighten the sky two hours before that. The sky should be completely dark by 10:17 (technically, that's the end of astronomical twilight, the least [or greatest] of the twilights). The darker the sky, the more meteors you'll see and the brighter they will appear. So go watch them from 1 to 4, if you have the chance. Try to get away from cities. The shower will be visible from Portland and Seattle, but not nearly as good as, say, a mountaintop in Eastern Oregon. Look towards the north-eastern sky.

I am still in Pullman, which means I can drive ten minutes and be away from nearly all light pollution. There is a completely clear sky with only a faint breeze. In other words, perfect viewing conditions. I hope you are as lucky.

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