Perseid meteor shower: Some parks on Long Island will stay open for viewing
Hofstra physics and astronomy Professor Stephen Lawrence said most people will see, at best, one meteor every few minutes. “The most important thing is patience,” he said. Credit: Rick Kopstein
Long Island stargazers can catch the Perseid meteor shower as soon as Sunday night as the annual cosmic light show reaches its peak, and some state parks will stay open to maximize the chance of seeing the telltale streaks of light.
The Perseids are expected to be most visible between late Sunday night and just before dawn on Monday, experts said.
“The best strategy is to bring a beach chair or a beach blanket and just lay back and look at the darkest part of the sky you can see,” said Stephen Lawrence, a professor of physics and astronomy at Hofstra University.
The New York State Department of Parks said parts of six state parks will remain open Sunday night into early Monday morning:
- Jones Beach State Park’s west end parking lot
- Sunken Meadow State Park’s Field 3
- Montauk Point State Park’s upper parking lot
- Wildwood State Park’s main parking lot
- Orient Beach State Park’s main parking lot
- Hallock State Park Preserve
There will be no charge to attend those parks during the meteor shower and no stargazing permit is required, according to the parks department. Visitors must remain near their vehicles. Bug spray is recommended.
Lawrence said most people will see, at best, one meteor every few minutes. Those streaks of light can come anywhere in the sky, he added.
“The most important thing is patience,” Lawrence said.
Light pollution and weather conditions will be the main factors in the visibility of the Perseids, which will be most visible between midnight and about 4 a.m. on Monday.
Ken Spencer, president of the Astronomical Society of Long Island, said those unable to go to state parks should get away from light as much as possible.
“The best thing that somebody can do is get to dark skies,” Spencer said.
The North Fork is a prime location, he said, and looking out over Long Island Sound from the North Shore will also offer an opportunity to limit the amount of light affecting the night sky.
The National Weather Service forecasts Sunday night will be mostly clear with a low in the mid-60s.
John Murray, a meteorologist for the weather service, said the skies should be ideal across both Nassau and Suffolk counties.
"There's no significant differences across Long Island for the Sunday nighttime period," Murray said, adding that less than 20% cloud coverage is expected from Sunday night into Monday morning.
The Perseids originate from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, an icy meteor roughly 16 miles across that leaves behind a dusty trail of cosmic residue, according to NASA.
When the Earth passes through the debris trail, the particles collide with the atmosphere and create blazing streaks across the sky.
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