“And they’ve traveled billions of miles before their kamikaze run into Earth’s atmosphere”. The meteors visible during the Perseid shower are remnants of the Swift-Tuttle comet.
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“Under ideal conditions, rates could soar to 200 meteors per hour”, Cooke said.
Although the outbursts can be spectacular, most of the meteors are only the size of a grain of sand, or as large as a small pebble, before they burn up in our atmosphere.
NASA officials suggest making plans now to stay up late or set the alarm early August 11 to see a cosmic display of “shooting stars” light up the night sky.
The annual Perseid meteor shower, already one of the most reliably impressive celestial events, promises to be especially good this year. The meteors are called Perseids because they seem to fly out the constellation Perseus. “You don’t want to look in any particular direction, just lie on your back and look straight up”.
How to prepare for viewing meteor showers: If you live anywhere near a major metropolitan city, drive to the nearest darkest place you can find, avoid looking at headlights or any lights at all for 30 – 45 minutes so your eyes can get adjusted to the darkness.
Best viewing will be from midnight to dawn on the morning of August 12th. It’ll be easiest to see the meteors after the moon sets in the early hours of Friday, according to NASA. But this year, Jupiter’s pull is yanking the debris trails closer, according to NASA.
In South Florida, if the clouds are in check, the only obstacle left is light pollution. A meteor shower can be made up of several different streams that have happened years before, even 100 years before.
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To get the most out of your Perseid meteor shower experience, you need the darkest possible skies. The surge in activity is expected in addition to the Perseids climax on Friday night and Saturday morning.
