The spectacular Perseid meteor shower should reach its peak tonight with as many as 100 shooting stars streaking across the sky every hour.
But the annual display, caused by the Earth passing through rocky debris left by comet Swift-Tuttle, could be hard to see this year, with cloud and the glare of another celestial event, the supermoon, conspiring to obscure the meteors.
The Perseids have been observed by humans for about 2000 years, with the earliest knowledge of their existence emerging from the Far East. It is one of the finest meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60-100 bright, fast, and colorful meteors per hour during their peak. This annual meteor shower is active from July 17th through August 24th, and usually peaks on August 12th and 13th.
Perseids is extremely consistent in its timing and can potentially be observable for several weeks in the summer sky, conditional on your whereabouts, lighting conditions, and weather. Meteor showers are commonly named after their radiant point, the perspective point in the sky from which the meteors appear to come from. In the case of Perseids, it is named after the constellation Perseus, which is positioned in approximately the same point in which the Perseids meteor shower appears to originate from.
SpaceDex.com has more information about the Perseids and and how to view them. Click here and scroll down the page, you’ll see country names and state names, click on the location you’re in. From there you’ll see the best hours in your location to view the Perseids.
For the best viewing experience, find an area unobstructed by a structure that is far away from city lights. Using optical devices such as binoculars or telescopes is not recommended, as your field of view will be greatly restricted, thus making the possibility of missing a “shooting star” more likely.
