Methow Conservancy First Tuesday: The Sky is Falling with Astronomer Shane Larson

[MethowConservancy]

When: Tuesday, July 1, at 7pm.
Where: Winthrop Barn
Free--all are welcome.

Astronomer and astrophysicist Shane Larson is back in the Methow Valley to teach us about meteors!.

"Shooting stars" can be seen on almost any night of the year if you watch the skies, but each year on the same nights, the Earth plows through streams of flotsam and jetsam in space, creating a "meteor shower" where tens to hundreds can be seen every hour. There are just more than 100 named meteor showers throughout the year, with varying degrees of activity and visibility. One of the most prominent is August's Perseid Meteor Shower, regularly one of the finest of the year! The Perseids are flecks of rock, ice and dust from the comet, Swift-Tuttle. When you see them, you are seeing detritus from the formation of the solar system burning up in the skies overhead. In this talk, we'll chat about rocks and dust from space, big and small — where they come from, what to look for to see them, and what might happen if they whack us.

Call the Methow Conservancy with any questions: 509-996-2870.

Hope to see you tonight!
~ the Methow Conservancy