Well, it looks like August is shaping up to be more seasonable than the cold wet month of July we just came out of.

Perhaps if it stays dry for a while those persistent hordes of mosquitoes that have been driving me mad will finally abate. It would definitely make it easier to stick around out of doors longer so that we can enjoy this Copper Country summer. The berry crops look promising this year so I wouldn’t mind being able to relax when I do some picking.

With the arrival of August comes the arrival of the annual Perseid meteor shower peak. This year the earth will pass through the densest remaining debris from the commit Swift-Tuttle between Aug. 11 through the 13th. Since July 17 we have been passing through debris and will continue to do so till around Aug. 24.

To view these showers it is best to get away from light sources that can interfere with your view, have a clear view of the northeast sky, and have a clear night. It is typically better to view these meteor showers in the morning during the peak but this year is an exception. This year the peak will be occurring at the same time as a full super moon.

Supermoons are when the earth and the moon, either full or new, are at their closest. The moon’s orbit around the earth is elliptical so the distance between the earth and moon is constantly changing with distances varying between 222,000 and 252,000 miles.

A more technical name for the supermoon is perigee-syzygy. The opposite, a micromoon, is called an apogee-syzygy. The close encounters occur several times a year but this particular one is the closest that will occur in 2014. The actual peak of the full moon will occur on Aug. 10 at 2:09 p.m., so we aren’t going to be seeing it. The weather for the next few days does look like it will be clear for nights though, and it should still be impressive.

So what does this really mean? Well, for one the moon may appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than a micromoon. This may drown out some of the fainter meteors of the Perseids due to its brightness. It may also have an effect on tides although they haven’t proven to be significant in the past with only a few inches of difference observed.

There are some people who believe these close encounters effect the geophysics of the earth and can result in earthquakes and abnormal weather phenomena. So far there hasn’t been evidence to prove that there is an actual correlation between this.

Even though it is not the ideal conditions for viewing the Perseids, the brighter shooting stars should still be visible. With such a large full moon and the possibility of meteors, night sky viewing should be impressive. Who doesn’t love staying out at night howling at the moon? I might have to take a trip up to Brockway one night this weekend.