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Perseid Meteor Showers: Joshua Tree National Park is Ready for Campers

The Perseids have been observed on Earth for about 2,000 years, according to NASA. The source of the annual meteor shower is debris left behind a comet called Swift-Tuttle. Every year in August, the Earth passes through a cloud of the comet's debris.

Joshua Tree National Park rangers plan to re-open Ryan Campground for the nights of Aug. 10 to Aug. 12 to make room for people who want to watch the upcoming Perseid meteor showers, a park spokesman said.

The annual Perseid meteor event is scheduled to reach peak activity on Saturday Aug. 11, Joe Zarki of Joshua Tree National Park said in a statement.

"The Perseids have been observed for about 2,000 years," a NASA web page states. "The source of the annual meteor shower is the debris trail left behind comet Swift-Tuttle. Each year in August, the Earth passes through a cloud of the comet's debris. These bits of ice and dust burn up in the Earth's atmosphere."

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Park rangers will offer a night sky program to view the Perseid showers beginning at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Oasis Visitor Center, Zarki said.

"During the night meteors will appear to 'rain' in the sky from the direction of the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky," Zarki said. "Perseus rises into the night sky at about 11 p.m.

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"Meteors are icy debris and cosmic dust from the trail of comets that streak across the sky as the Earth passes through the debris trail," Zarki said. "Travelling at tens of thousands of mile per hour, most meteors burn up from friction as they hit the Earth's atmosphere. Very rarely does a piece of cosmic debris strike the ground as a meteorite."

The Oasis Visitor Center is located at 74485 National Park Drive in Twentynine Palms.

Ryan Campground is on Loop Road, south of Twentynine Palms and the Wonderland of Rocks, inside Joshua Tree National Park boundaries. It has 31 sites and it is normally closed in summer due to low park visitation, Zarki said.

In recent years "night sky activities have become popular at Joshua Tree and frequently draw large evening crowds to the park," Zarki said. Temporary opening of Ryan Campground will allow room for more visitors who want to stay the night.

Normal park camp fees of $10 per night will apply during the temporary opening of Ryan Campground, Zarki said. Ryan Campground will close on the morning of Aug. 13 and re-open again for visitor use in the fall.

Joshua Tree National Park is about a 70-mile drive east of Redlands and Loma Linda on State Route 62.

For more information contact the park at (760) 367-5500, or visit www.nps.gov/jotr.

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