Friday, Aug. 12—HUBBARDTON— On the evening of Friday, Aug. 12, head to the Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Site in Hubbardton, Vt. to look for the Perseid meteor shower with members of the Green Mountain Alliance of Amateur Astronomers. The event is free, donations appreciated. Bring blankets or a reclining chair if you like.
The Perseid meteor shower is one of the main celestial events of the summer. You need no special equipment to enjoy this nighttime spectacle, but telescopes will be available for deep space viewing. Give yourself at least an hour of observing time, for these meteor showers come in bursts and are interspersed with lulls; with up to 60 meteors per hour the Perseid is a reliably good meteor shower as the Earth ploughs through the debris of the comet Swift-Tuttle. If our planet happens to pass through an unusually dense clump of meteoroids–comet rubble–viewers will see an elevated number of meteors.
An open sky such as at the Hubbardton Battlefield is essential because these meteors fly across the sky in many different directions and in front of numerous constellations. Minimal moonshine makes for ideal conditions, and an inside program will be held in the event of inclement weather.
Call 802-273-2282 on the day to confirm.
The last astronomy program at the battlefield will be held Sept. 3, from 7:30-11 p.m. for Deep Sky Discovery Night.
The battlefield is located in Hubbardton on Monument Hill Road, seven miles north of Route 4 from Castleton (first Castleton exit) or six miles east of Route 30 in Hubbardton.
