“If you see one meteor shower this year, make it August’s Perseids or December’s Geminids”, NASA says. The Perseids are known for producing fast and bright meteors and even the occasional fireball streaking across the night sky.
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Am I okay to stare directly at the meteor shower?
The program will highlight the science behind the Perseids, as well as NASA research related to meteors and comets.
The reason the shower is called the Perseids is because, when emerging in the sky above the Northern Hemisphere, the meteors seem to originate from the constellation of Perseus.
The Milky Way arching over a mountain campground provides the ideal backdrop for a meteor shower.
So grab a folding chair, prepare a list of wishes, and get as far from bright city lights and clouds as you can to watch the natural firework display.
The chance of seeing meteors is higher than normal this year because the peak coincides with the new moon, that means the sky will be dark with no moonlight to inhibit viewing. As the Earth passes through this debris field, rocks that broke off and from the comet, start to hit the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up.
At the peak of the shower, there could be as many as 80 meteors per hour, USA Today noted. The burning of those bits causes our best meteor shower of the year. Find a place that’s as dark as possible with a view of as much of the sky as possible.
Avoid using flashlights while your eyes are adjusting.
“The best thing is you don’t need a telescope”, he added.
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Ty Westbrook with the Barlow Planetarium said,”When something moves or changes it’s very exciting and shooting stars, meteors, are spectacular, because you’re not expecting them, you don’t know where they’re coming from and boom, they go zipping across the sky and it’s just super exciting”.
