Conditions are favorable for this year’s Perseid meteor shower, widely considered to be one of the best annual meteor showers on the calendar, but skywatchers will want to keep an eye on multiple forecasts to see if they can catch its peak the night of Aug. 12.

While August skies are usually clear in Oregon, two factors at play could spoil the show: wildfire smoke and unseasonable clouds, like those that recently rolled in during a potential viewing of the Northern Lights.

The Perseid meteor shower, which technically runs from July 14 to Sept. 1, reaches its peak Aug. 12 to 13, when an average of 50 to 75 meteors may be visible under dark skies, according to the American Meteor Society.

Dark skies require not only distance from city lights, but a favorable moon phase, as moonlight can drown out the streaking meteors. While this year’s event will take place under a half moon, it will conveniently set around 11:35 p.m. in Oregon, according to Time and Date. That’s right when the meteor shower should be hitting its stride.

The Perseid meteor shower occurs as the Earth moves through a debris path left behind by the Swift-Tuttle comet during its last trip past the sun in 1992. When a comet passes the sun, it sheds icy and dusty debris in a stream behind the comet’s orbit. When that debris enters Earth’s atmosphere it appears as a meteor shower.

Both cloud cover and smoke could obscure those meteors from view. It’s still too soon to get an accurate forecast for either, so skywatchers should keep an eye on both the weather forecast and wildfire smoke map as the peak day approaches.

As it stands, wildfire smoke is pervasive in central and southern Oregon, two of the best places for stargazing in the state. The Oregon Star Party, which had been scheduled from July 30 to Aug. 4 in the Ochoco Mountains, was forced to canceled due to the Crazy Creek fire, which is currently burning only a few miles away from the event site.

Astronomers looking for a gathering can watch the Perseids at a star party hosted by OMSI and the Rose City Astronomers at Rooster Rock State Park on Aug. 12.

Skywatchers who are on their own should head out after dark and look up to the constellation Perseus (the namesake of the meteor shower), found in the northern part of the sky. Get comfortable and stare up at the stars, and before long you’ll likely see the meteors.

--Jamie Hale covers travel and the outdoors and co-hosts the Peak Northwest podcast. Reach him at 503-294-4077, jhale@oregonian.com or @HaleJamesB.

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