Each August, the Earth’s orbit takes it through a small section of this ring, causing stray bits of comet dust to slam into our atmosphere at 37 miles per second.
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The phenomenon will be most visible in places with little light, so that you can see the traveling stars extremely clear.
First of all, the shooting stars we see streak across the sky are not really stars – they are meteoroids.
This year’s shower coincides with a new moon.
As a general rule, the Perseid meteors tend to be few and far between at nightfall and early evening and the best time to look is just prior to dawn. Going to a rural area, way from city light pollution will certainly increase your chances in seeing the Perseid Meteor Shower!
Meteors are the particles created by Comet Swift-Tuttle.
That’s “because the moon is nearly new and there’s no moonlight to mess with the show”, said NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke.
The Perseid meteor shower is considered to be one of the best of the annual meteor displays where you can sometimes see up to 90 meteors an hour during the shower. On the same date each year Earth passes through this debris which is then accelerated to great speed toward Earth.
Block said it’s not necessary to only look to the northeast sky where the constellation Perseus will be rising. The program will focus on the science behind the meteor shower as well as NASA’s research into such things. You will want to get comfortable and allow your eyes to adjust to the dark. Viewers should expect up to 100 meteors per hour to be visible from the dark sky.
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The Rothney Astrophysical Observatory in Priddis is holding Milky Way Nights to view and learn about the meteor shower.
