It will look as if a substantial cookie bite has been taken out of the bottom left portion of the sun. In Bar Harbor and Halifax, maximum coverage occurs shortly after sunrise. Why Meteors Radiate With the solar eclipse now history, I d like to add a few more thoughts about the Perseid meteor shower which will be in full swing during the next three nights. You can find a constellation map of Perseus and its environs, a general sky map for August, and a moon phase calendar by simply following the StarWatch links posted at the web site below. The distinguishing feature of any meteor shower is the condition that the shooting stars will seem to radiate away from a common point or localized region in the sky.
Meteors are the result of very tiny particles, the debris from comets, which orbit the sun.
Each time a comet comes around, it loses a part of itself. But the dust remains, pretty much in the orbital path of the comet. If the Earth intersects or passes near the path of a comet, we see meteors, as the cometary dust slams into the atmosphere and makes the air glow. We never see the particle itself, just the path through which it has traversed. Since these meteoroids are essentially moving parallel to each other, it s like looking down a long straight section of railroad track.