Watertown -- The Sci-Tech Center of Northern New York is inviting the community to it's annual Perseids Meteor Shower Watch this Saturday night. The event will be at the Air Monitoring Site at the Perch River Wildlife Management Area on the Vaadi Rd. in the Town of Orleans.
The Perseids have been observed for at least 2,000 years and are associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years. Each year in August, the Earth passes through a cloud of the comet's debris. These bits of ice and dust -- most of them more than 1,000 years old -- burn up, or ablate, in the Earth's atmosphere.
The Perseids can be seen all over the sky, but the best viewing opportunities will be across the northern hemisphere.
The event begins at 9pm in the parking lot next to the Monitoring Site. There will be no restrooms or any other facilities available and alcoholic beverages are not permitted.
The national weather service is calling for mostly cloudy skies Saturday night with a chance of showers. For more information call the Sci-Tech Center at 788-2738
