Meteors and a Hint of Fall

As is often the case in early August, the first real breath of northern air will arrive in Virginia later today  clearing skies and dropping temps to near 60 for the Perseid meteor shower.  Tonight, by midnight and into the wee hours streaks of light will zoom across the sky as bits of dust left behind as comet Swift-Tuttle last orbited the sun. The comet won't be back until 2126 but every year Earth passes through the debris trail at this time in August and offers one of the more reliable showers of the year. At a meteor or two a minute, you probably won't have to wait long to see "shooting stars".
To watch a meteor shower is easy; put on some bug spray, set up a lounge chair or blanket in an open spot away from lights and lay back and look up into space. The quick movement will catch your eye. The shower is called the Perseids because the meteors, if traced back to a point of origin seem to come out of the constellation Perseus.  Don't worry about not knowing what Perseus looks like or where it is, the meteors will seem to come from everywhere.
While you're watching for meteors the constellations of summer will be your background: the 3 bright stars of the summer triangle will be overhead with the Milky Way running through the triangle if your location is truly dark, Scorpio, Sagittarius and Capricorn will rule the south but by meteor time the big dipper will be below (or near) the northern horizon. The North Star will still be north, at the end of the little dipper handle. It should be a clear, cool evening; perfect for meteor watching and star gazing.
If you are up in the middle of the night (3am) the waning crescent moon will be hanging with Jupiter (higher) and Venus (lower). Check out the sky show!!
A 6.4 quake rocked Iran earlier today (let's hope it's not nuclear testing with that scary nation) and the Fox Islands had a quake in the red zone late yesterday. The Pacific Ring of Fire (with Hawaii dotting the ring's center) is the only spot for volcanoes right now: 2 rumble in New Zealand, Colombia and on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula as well as many of the ring's usual suspects on the list. Popo still causes the most concern on the list.
Get out and check out your planet, today on Earth.

July Goes Out Shaky & Stormy

The CentralVaQuakeZone is at it again; a 2.4 quake early Tuesday morning centered a little northeast of the more "normal" spots reminds us, almost a year later, that our new shaky world is still alive.  And, after dodging most of the storms of late, the tire house got some much needed rain as July ended and August arrived, 1 1/4 inches worth and cleaner air.  More storms are possible today with a less humid day in store for Thursday.
Mars, Saturn and Spica continue their dance in the western sky. Mars will catch up and slide eastward (or seem to) between the other two as the month goes on. Tonight's full moon (11:27pmEDT) will wash out many of the faint stars but the planet dance will still be easy to spot. For early risers Venus and Jupiter are the morning show.  August will have a blue moon this moon, at least the new version: two full moons in a month - today and the 31st.
The volcano site will be updated later today; the Virgin Isles are a bit shaky offshore recently and Oklahoma and Utah are still quaking a bit more than normal. Heat dominates the mid-US (shocker) and the Olympics continue across the pond.
Get out and check out your planet (and the space around us) today on Earth.