Thanks to the efforts of Dark Skies programs sprinkled throughout the Hill Country, Central Texas has a number of prime locations for stargazing. This is good news for people hoping to make wishes on some falling stars this August during the Perseid Meteor Shower.
Regarded as one of the most reliable meteor showers in the celestial calendar, the Perseids run from July 14 to Sept. 1, with its peak hitting on the weekend of Aug. 11-12.
“The Perseids meteor shower comes from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle,” Alan Martinez, Texas State Astronomy student and webmaster for the University’s Astronomy Club, said. “It’s a comet in Jupiter's orbit, and every year as the comet gets closer to the sun in its orbit, it begins sublimating material off its surface.”
