The last Perseid outburst was in 2009. In the past, stargazers may have witnessed up to 60 flashes of light an hour as meteors hit earth’s atmosphere, but rates could climb to up to 200 meteors per hour this year, according to NASA. It results when Earth plows through the dust and other debris shed over the eons by the 16-mile-wide (26 kilometers) Comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years.
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It’s named for the constellation Perseus, from which point the meteors appear to radiate.
In a typical year, observers under a clear dark sky can expect to see up to 100 meteors per hour.
The event takes place each year in August when Earth passes through trails of debris left behind by an ancient comet – Swift-Tuttle.
“The meteors you’ll see this year are from comet flybys that occurred hundreds if not thousands of years ago”, Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office told Quartz.
Experts say they hit the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 134,000 miles per hour but don’t pose any danger to us on Earth.
If you’re anxious you won’t be able to see anything because you live in a city, we’re assured that this year’s shower will be so strong and bright, that even light-pollution won’t be able to blot out all of these comet-like-space-balls.
The night sky will become even darker close to 1 a.m. local time after the moon sets. And, of course, if you have the ability to get away from light pollution, you will have a much better view of the shower. The stars won’t be constant, so if you can’t see anything initially then keeping looking up and let your eyes adjust, and wait. “I’m not at all optimistic about seeing the Shower just because sky conditions will be mostly cloudy from late Thursday night all the way until about sunrise Friday morning”, said First Alert 5 lead forecaster Mike Daniels.
What is the Perseid meteor shower?
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Increased activity also may be seen Saturday morning.
