Mars and the Perseid Meteor Shower

The Perseid meteor shower is underway. The shower's broad peak extends from August 11th through 13th, with August 12th being best. If you get away from bright city lights and watch the sky between local midnight and dawn on Friday morning, August 12th, you can expect to see dozens to hundreds of meteors.

The planet Mars is out during the Perseid meteor shower, too. It's that bright red "star" high in the eastern sky before dawn. Many Perseid meteors will appear to fly past Mars on Friday morning--a pretty sight.

And speaking of Mars, beware the Mars Hoax. A rumor about the red planet continues to spread via email. The message claims that Mars will come so close to Earth on August 27th that it looks as big as the full Moon. In fact, Mars is approaching Earth for a close encounter in October--not August. October's close approach will indeed be beautiful, but Mars will never rival the Moon.