Recently along a stretch of Devil’s Backbone, people have been lining up their cars near a public-access picnic area to watch the setting sun. When conditions are right—and in the Hill Country, they often are—spectators can view a broad swath of the Milky Way, multiple planets, and since April, the Comet Neowise.
Next week, the Texas night sky will feature another spectacular show with the Perseid Meteor Shower. Throughout the year, about a dozen meteor showers occur as the planet passes through the debris fields of various disintegrating comets, but the Perseids are generally the most abundant and well-known. While skywatchers won’t see a literal ‘shower’ of meteors with the Perseids, it’s like that even with the last quarter moon in the sky, viewers will see several shooting stars streaking across the sky each hour.
Since the meteor shower will peak on the night of Aug. 11-12, the Hays County Friends of the Night Sky are hosting a virtual event to celebrate it.
