What time is the perseid meteor shower in chicago?

Question

What time is the perseid meteor shower in chicago?

Answer 1

The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak before dawn on Aug. 12. This year the Perseids will be competing with the nearly full moon at first, but after the moon sets there will be many bright streaks in the sky.

This shower is one of the most popular every year because it happens on warm summer nights, when gazing at the starry sky is a pleasure by itself. Many observers take advantage of this by camping out for the event. After the moon sets around 2 a.m. local time, when viewing conditions are ideal, you can expect to see 60 to 90 bright meteors per hour in a clear sky, some with smoke trails that last several seconds after the meteor has vanished.

The Perseids will be visible for most of August, though there will be fewer meteors to see the farther from the peak date you watch. If the peak on Aug. 12 is hidden by clouds, try looking for meteors again as soon as the night sky is clear.

Avoid artificial lights as much as possible to minimize the effect of local light pollution, which can obscure as many as half of the meteors. Try facing east if you have a clear view in that direction, and look about half-way up the sky from the horizon. You won't need binoculars or a telescope -- the meteors move much too fast for that. The chances of seeing a fireball will be greatest near dawn, when Earth is moving head-on into the meteor stream.

The Perseids may appear anywhere in the sky, but they will seem to originate from a point called the radiant in the constellation Perseus, which gives the meteors their name. The higher the radiant is above the northeastern horizon, the more meteors will be visible. Perseus is just north of the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia in the Milky Way, with the bright stars Capella and Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster below it. Meteors near the radiant will have short trails because we see them nearly end on, while those far from the radiant will look longer because they are seen from the side.

Answer 2

The meteor shower for the entire world is August 12th - 14th. The best time to view is after the moon sets at around 1:00 A.M.

Answer 3

Watch the sky from midnight August 11th to 4:30 am August 12nd  

Answer 4

http://www.imo.net/calendar/2008

This is the calendar site for the meteor showers for 2008 from the International Meteor Organization.  Everything you ever wanted to know about meteor showers is on this site.  Enjoy!