Helping Aubie this week is Dr. David King, professor of Geology in AU's College of Sciences and Mathematics.

The meteor shower your dad told you about is the Perseid meteor shower, an annual event in the skies when
lots of bright, streaking meteors can
be seen at night.   The Perseid event usually spans the period from late
July into mid-August.   This year, 2005, most of the meteors could be seen on August 12, which was the "peak" of the meteor shower (most meteors can be seen on that day).   For several days before and after August 12, fewer meteors could be seen in the night sky.  

The Perseids are an annual event and represent the time when Earth - going around the Sun as it does each year - passes a place in Earth's orbit where there is a cloud of dust.   Dust grains streak through Earth's atmosphere at 132,000 miles per hour and burn up as they go along.   This makes the colorful streaks and fireballs seen during this meteor shower.   The source of the dust is another object going around the Sun ... the Comet Swift-Tuttle.   This comet does not come near Earth, but over time the dust lost by the comet's tail has formed a cloud that orbits the Sun and the Earth passes through that cloud.   Because the dust cloud changes over time and Earth's orbit shifts ever so slightly, Earth does not pass through the same area of dust every time.   So the meteor shower varies from year to year in how many and how bright the streaks and fireballs will be.  

Some astronomers try to forecast this effect, but the forecasts are usually not very accurate and the result can be a surprise (very few meteors or lots and lots of

meteors ... you never know for sure).   This year, I watched the Perseids from my backyard.   They were very bright and I saw several fireballs per hour.   Because the meteors come from a single point in the sky (the place where Earth's globe is facing in its orbit around the Sun) they seem to "fly out" of the constellation Perseus, hence their name.   The best time to watch the Perseids is between
2 a.m. and dawn each day of their yearly passage because that
is the time when Alabama is at the point where our state is
facing into Earth's orbit (thus, hitting the dust cloud directly).  
You can find more information on the web at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/22jul_perseids2005.htm .  

There are other meteor showers during the year, including the Leonids (coming from a point in the constellation Leo) during November.   The Leonids that occurred on November 12-13, 1833, were so bright that they were commemorated in the phrase "Stars fell on Alabama."

Thanks for your question,

Aubie and Dr. King