Meteor Shower Offers Tour Guide

On Friday, as the Earth whirls into the orbit of a fading comet, spectators will watch about 60 meteors an hour streak across the sky.

Starting with an explanatory slide show at 8:30 p.m., instructors Dennis Leatart and Hal Jandorf of the Moorpark College Observatory will serve as tour guides for Perseid, the biggest meteor shower of the year. The show will go late into the night at Moorpark College’s Carlsberg Amphitheater.

“After midnight, we are traveling on the forward side of the globe, heading into the comet’s debris, so more meteors slam into the Earth, like bugs hitting the front windshield of a speeding car,” said Jandorf. “We’re going through the dandruff of the comet.”

And because the moon will be in its new phase, the night will be dark and better for meteor watching. At around 11 p.m., spectators will also see the planet Mars.

The Perseid shower occurs every August, when the orbits of Earth and the Swift-Tuttle comet intersect.

Admission to the observatory will be $2. Visitors were advised to bring lawn chairs and binoculars.