How to Watch the 2012 Perseid Meteor Shower Online from Melrose

With heavy rain forecast for Saturday night, New England weather isn't cooperating, once again, with our urge to gaze at starts. On Saturday night, the Perseid meteor shower will amaze those who can see it, but those of us in Somerville likely won't be among them.

This isn't a new phenomenon. New England's weather was also being grumpy in June during the .

Once again, as with the transit of Venus, the Internet comes to the rescue.

The meteor shower is predicted to be spectacular this year, and NASA is hosting a web cam viewing of the celestial show and a live chat with experts. The live chat takes place from 11 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday.

Visit NASA's website to see live footage of the Perseid meteor shower from a camera in Alabama and join the chat.

If you'd like more info on what's happening, visit examiner.com.

Also, , in Georgia, has the following information about the meteor shower:

According to Astronomy.com, the Perseid meteor shower has some added bonuses this year: It will occur on a night when the moon is in its waning crescent phase, which means the moonlight won't interfere with your view of the dashing meteors, and it's on a Saturday night, which means people can stay up late and sleep in the next day.

Perseid Meteor Trivia:

• These meteors travel 37 miles per second!
• The best time to view will be 2 a.m. on Aug. 12.
• The Perseid meteors are cast-offs of the Swift-Tuttle comet, according to Space.com.
• The shower began on July 23, and will peak the night of Aug. 11-12. 
• Look toward the Perseus constellation, which forms an inverted "Y" shape and is in the northeast.
• Some of the meteroids are as small as a grain of sand, but they have the kinetic energy of a nuclear bomb.
• If you see a very slow, bright object sailing across the sky, it's either a satellite or a Space Station.