Meteor Showers in the Boundary Waters

     It isn’t like you need another reason to look into the night sky when you’re on a BWCA canoe camping trip, but just in case a star filled sky doesn’t impress you then maybe a meteor shower will.  It’s the time of year for the Annual Perseids Meteor Shower and you’ll want to keep your eye on the sky.  It’s close to a full moon this year but the moon sets fairly early so there will be plenty of time to view the show.  

METEOR SHOWER: The Perseid meteor shower is underway. International observers are now reporting more than 20 meteors per hour as Earth passes through a stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on the night of Aug. 12-13. The best time to look is during the hours before dawn on Saturday morning, August 13th, when the glaring Moon is relatively low and meteor rates are highest. Visit

http://spaceweather.com for full coverage. http://spaceweather.com/flybys/

WATCH OUT FOR THE SPACE STATION, TOO: Consider it a cosmic coincidence. During the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, the International Space Station will fly over many US towns and cities. The behemoth spacecraft is easy to see if you know when to look. Check SpaceWeather.com’s Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times: