Audio By Carbonatix
Pegasus is flying — and Saint Lawrence will be crying — tonight: Astronomers are predicting peak viewing for the Perseids meteor shower starting at about 10pm, with a tiny crescent moon and Mars, Venus, and Saturn all coming out to watch a summer night sky full of shooting stars.
The farther you get from urban light pollution, the better off you’ll be, but if you’re looking for a stargazing party near Denver try the gathering at Alderfer/Three Sisters Park (Making wishes on the wings of Pegasus or asking the martyr Saint Lawrence to float your prayers to the heavens on his stream of streaking tears is strictly optional… but it couldn’t hurt.
For more on the history and mythology of meteor showers – and the meteorites that have made their way to Earth – check out The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars, by Christopher Cokinos, and the author’s lecture next week at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s Ricketson Auditorium ($10, 2001 Colorado Blvd., 7pm).
