Every August marks the beginning of the Perseid meteor shower, lighting up the night sky with up to 100 shooting meteors per hour. From the 11th up to the 13th, the Perseids are expected to peak alongside the half-full moon.
Depending on where you are in the world, the Perseids will peak from dawn until late in the evening to about midnight. Several websites, such as timeanddate.com, can help stargazers check which time is the best to view the spectacular show.
The Perseids occur every August as the Earth passes through the path of Comet Swift-Tuttle. The meteor shower is the result of the comet's debris heating up as they enter Earth's atmosphere and burn up.
Since most meteoroids are about the size of sand grains, they burn up completely before reaching Earth's surface. If the fragments do hit the ground, they become meteorites.
Comet Swift-Tuttle & Fireballs
Comet Swift-Tuttle, the Perseid meteor shower's 'parent' that was first discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Parnell Tuttle, has been the largest comet to pass by Earth every 133 years repeatedly. It last passed by our planet in 1992. Researchers had once predicted that the comet's path might collide with Earth in 2126, but precise calculations refuted the theory.
Aside from small dashes of shooting stars, the Perseids are also known for displaying fireballs or earth grazers. Fireballs are brighter and larger explosions of light and color that travel horizontally and have longer streaks than the average meteor passing through the sky.
LAKE MEAD NRA, NV - AUGUST 12: Perseid meteors fall as a satellite passes across the sky early August 12, 2008, near Rogers Spring in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada. The meteor display, known as the Perseid shower because it appears to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. Tuesday morning was considered the peak of the shower, which is visible every August.
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Getting the Best View
It would be best to view the meteor shower away from urban light pollution that would block the brightness from the sky. If you're stuck in the city, you can look for a place like next to a tree or tall building that can block out the moonlight for a better view.
While the meteor shower is best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere, the other half of the world can still enjoy the celestial show. The first meteors will appear in the Southern Hemisphere after midnight and will not have the same frequency of meteors as the Northern Hemisphere.
For the maximum Perseid meteor shower experience, go to a site where the sky is as dark as possible, according to Paul Chodas from NASA said. Allow your eyes to adapt to the dark, then get comfortable and wait patiently. The average rate is something like one a minute, but some of them are faint. Since they appear to radiate out of the constellation Perseus, which doesn't rise until late, this meteor shower is better seen in the wee hours of the morning when that constellation is higher in the sky.
This year, due to Jupiter's presence and strong gravity, the Perseids may display up to 200 meteors an hour, creating an outburst. On August 1, Jupiter was in conjunction with the moon, which will occur again on the 12th until the 22nd, when the gas giant will be visible nearby the moon and Saturn. Several experts say The Perseids will remain active until about August 26.
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