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Tonight’s Perseid Meteor Shower Will Be Especially Stellar — Here's How To Watch It

NASA/Bill Ingalls
/
Wikimedia Commons
In this 20 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, in Spruce Knob, West Virginia.

Five stories that have North Texas talking: To see the Perseid “outburst” tonight, you’ll need to head to the country; female runners in Dallas-Fort Worth offer their safety advice; so long, Tallywackers; and more.

Every August, Earth moves through a trail of debris left by the Swift-Tuttle comet, according to NASA, causing 80 to 100 meteor showers, or shooting stars, per hour for two or more consecutive nights. It’s called the Perseid meteor shower “because meteors appear to fall from a point in the constellation Perseus,” according to StarDate.

But this year, thanks to Jupiter’s strong gravitational pull, tugging the debris closer to Earth, the rates of shooting stars per hour will double, NASA predicts.“Scientists are calling this an ‘outburst’ — defined as a shower with an unusually high number of meteors,” NPRreported. The latest outburst occurred in 2009, and the next one isn’t expected until 2027, according to NASA.

Watching The Perseid Shower In North Texas

  • Where: Any dark and safe location, like a park or campsite, away from city lights is ideal for watching the shower.

 

  • When: NASA says the best time to go is between midnight tonight and dawn on Friday morning. Peak activity will be tonight through early Saturday morning.

 

  • How: Allow about 45 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark. If you can see each star of The Little Dipper, you’re in good shape. Then, lie on your back and look straight up.

Here are a few non-North Texas options for seeing the Perseid shower as well as other stargazing events in the state. And if you can’t get out, you can watch a livestream of the Perseid meteor shower that will be available via Ustream overnight tonight and Friday, beginning at 10 p.m. EDT. [NPR, NASA, StarDate, Texas Monthly]

 
 

  • While in North Texas this week, Tim Kaine responded to Donald Trump’s recent comments about Hillary Clinton “abolishing” the Second Amendment. Trump said in North Carolina on Tuesday: "If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know." Some took that as a suggestion for Clinton opponents to take up arms. In response, Kaine told Texas Standard: “There is absolutely no place, there should be no place in our politics for somebody who wants to be a leader to say something even in an offhand way that is connected to inciting violence.” Listen to the full conversation. [Texas Standard, KERA News]

  • Texans no longer have to present an I.D. in order to vote in November. Federal Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos approved a plan for the new policy on Wednesday, a month after “a federal appeals court found the state's voter ID law — which was passed by the Legislature in 2011 and went into effect in 2013 — to be racially discriminatory,” The Texas Tribune reported. However, anyone without an ID will sign a declaration proving their a U.S. citizen and present proof or residence, such as a bank statement or utility bill. [The Texas Tribune]

 

  • North Texas women offer advice to stay as safe as possible when running. Foregoing the headphones or listening to music on low volume, running with a buddy and changing your route are tips for runners to use all year round. But, given the recent murders of female runners in New York, some regular runners might feel on edge. The Dallas Morning News asked several women from around the area what they do to feel and stay safe. Read their advice. [The Dallas Morning News]

 

  • Tallywackers — a restaurant described as the male version of Hooters — has closed. Maybe temporarily, but there isn’t a new location or re-open date in sight, according to GuideLive. Places like Hooters, Twin Peaks and The Tilted Kilt are often referred to as “breastaurants,” so you could think of Tallywackers as a “bro-staurant” of sorts. Owner Rodney Duke called it a family restaurant, in KERA’s profile in May 2015, which is debatable considering buff, scantily clad men serve suggestively large hot dogs and the like. Neither the sights nor the bites caused the closure on Aug. 8. Duke didn’t renew the lease after the location proved to be a bust. [GuideLive, KERA News]