Meteor Shower Peaks tonight in Seattle

From the University of Washington website

Tonight, the annual August showing of the Perseid meteor shower will be at its peak. The meteor shower will look like a flurry of shooting stars — a beautiful sight for those who are lucky enough to catch it. The meteors lights up after they burst briefly into flames as they come off the tail of the comet Swift-Tuttle and hit the Earth’s atmosphere.

The weather folks tell us viewing conditions are good this year. Clear skies are in the forecast tonight and we won’t get a lot of glare from the moon. According to NASA, midnight is prime viewing time.You might be able to see it Friday and over the weekend, though it won’t be as vibrant.

Anyone in Maple Leaf planning on taking a peak tonight?

Venturing out of Maple Leaf? The University of Washington astronomers share their favorite viewing spot:

1. Camano island is nice. There’s a good state park campground there.”

2. “Below Rattlesnake Ridge right near North Bend is only 45 minutes away and gets you on the other side of the first foothills so that most of the Seattle light is blocked out and you get nice dark skies.”

3. “I have seen them from up near Snoqualmie Pass. I just took some logging road and found a clear spot. It was great.”

4. “To reverse a famous phrase: “go East, young lady, go East!” After crossing Snoqualmie Pass go on to the road to Roslyn. Stop wherever there is open viewing to the NE and no nearby lights.”

5. “We went to the old Snoqualmie winery spot a few yrs ago for the Perseids and it was full of people with the same idea – its a perfect spot. It’s one of the exits before the pass.”

6. “Contact the Seattle Astronomical Society. They do local star parties on Tiger Mountain though I don’t know if camping is possible there. I’ve also stayed nearly all night just in a field off the side of the road that goes north from Fall City (just north of I90)…seems ok for those few hours, but not for camping. Don’t go any closer to the Cascades though, the north-eastern sky will be blacked out by mountains. Personally? I’d go past the Cascades to Easton or Cle Elum. I’d look at a map of State camp grounds, then estimate where the mountains are and the campground can tell you about the tree cover.”

7. “I prefer old route U.S. 10 (now WA 10) near I-5 a little east of Cle Elum. The site is easy to reach from Seattle, extremely dark, scenic, with good parking at various turnouts along the river. Winds are generally quiet.”

8. “Easiest one: Out near Carnation (head I-90 east and hook north on Preston-Fall City road (exit near North Bend). 30-45 minutes away.”

9. “Better ones: Just go to any isolated camping location. The coast works well, but is often cloudy. Probably the best bet would to head over the mountains and catch it near Vantage (just East of the mountains as I-90 crosses the river.) Heck, just about anyplace in eastern washington works other than the 3 population centers.”