Perseid Meteor Shower

The Perseid Meteor Shower will be in full bloom tonight. The best time for viewing is between midnight and dawn. Be sure to get away from any lights and look to the northeast. Here are a few factoids about the meteor shower courtesy of NASA.
Perseid meteors:
1. Nearly as fast as a speeding bullet… meteors ~ 130,000 mph bullet= 170,000 mph.
2. temperatures over 3,000 F as the tiny particles burn up by colliding with molecules of the atmosphere.
3. Altitude = above 50 miles above earth, burning up in the “mesosphere”
4. they are tiny pieces of the comet Swift-Tuttle, the size of Grape-Nuts cereal (demonstration for your anchor?)
5. generally meteors contain extraterrestrial nickel and iron
6. earth August Earth crosses paths with Swift-Tuttle’s debris, specks of comet-stuff hit Earth’s atmosphere and burn by friction with atmosphere.
7. often called a “shooting star” or “falling star”, they are only tiny fragments
8. it takes generally a second for them to burn up.