The Perseids Are Back: How to Watch One of the Best Meteor Showers of the Year

One of the year’s astir spectacular meteor showers is astir to scope its peak. Here’s what you request to cognize to get the champion presumption of the Perseid meteor shower.

Although the Perseids began burning up successful Earth’s ambiance successful mid-July, it took a fewer weeks for them to scope their peak. According to EarthSky, this highest is predicted to hap connected the nighttime of Sunday, August 11, and proceed into the pursuing morning. If you person plans that night, the nights earlier and aft whitethorn person somewhat less meteors, but should inactive marque for immoderate pleasant skywatching. The amusement should commencement astatine astir midnight, though the strength volition gradually summation arsenic the nighttime goes connected and scope its pinnacle soon earlier dawn.

Unfortunately, and arsenic NASA points out, the highest of the ablution is acceptable to hap connected a nighttime erstwhile determination volition beryllium a 53% waxing Moon, which could person an interaction connected visibility. However, the Moon is forecast to acceptable earlier the premier show astatine dawn, which should let for rather a fewer meteors to beryllium seen. Even so, the show isn’t expected to beryllium arsenic expansive arsenic what was seen past year.

The meteors are renowned for their agleam colors and agelong tails, arsenic good arsenic for being arsenic plentiful arsenic they are beautiful. During the peak, up to 100 meteors are anticipated to transverse the entity each hour, making the ablution 1 of the astir bountiful of the year. The Perseids’ lone contention connected that beforehand whitethorn beryllium the Geminids, which instrumentality spot successful mid-December. For those of america successful the Northern Hemisphere, the summertime upwind makes watching the Perseids a overmuch much pleasant option.

The Perseids get their sanction from the constellation Perseus, which is wherever they look to commencement their voyage crossed the sky. That constituent of root for meteors is called a radiant, but really has thing to bash with wherever meteors travel from. Meteors are tiny pieces of stone and particulate that get dislodged from a genitor comet arsenic it hurtles done space. As the Earth passes done that way of debris, immoderate of it enters the ambiance and burns up, creating streaks of light. In the Perseids’ case, that comet is named 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun erstwhile each 133 years. If you’d similar to spot the comet itself, don’t clasp your breath—its orbit and the Earth won’t transverse paths again until 2125.

If you hint the meteor trails of the Perseids backmost to their source, you volition find they look to travel from a spot adjacent the constellation Perseus – hence their name, and the sanction of astir meteor showers. © NASA/JPL

Because the Perseids’ radiant is successful the bluish information of the sky, the champion views of the ablution are successful the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. However, radical successful parts of the Southern Hemisphere who unrecorded adjacent the equator down to the mid-southern latitudes should inactive beryllium capable to drawback a glimpse. NASA recommends heading distant from metropolis lights to ticker the meteors successful a acheronian determination for the champion viewing experience. Make definite to cheque the upwind forecast for wherever you’re headed and formal appropriately, with plentifulness of h2o and snacks. Lie connected the crushed (bring a broad oregon towel!), tilt your caput back, and enjoy.