Thursday morning the Perseid meteor shower is expected to light up the sky.
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Starting at around 11 pm, you’ll be able to see as many as 50 of these meteors per hour.
The Perseids show up every year when the Earth passes through debris – mostly ice and dust bits – left over from the Swift-Tuttle comet. This year’s meteor shower is expected to be phenomenal because it will be more visible than usual. Shaduk said the less sleep you get Thursday night, the better the show. “What we see is a ‘shooting star.’ That bright streak is not actually the rock, but rather the glowing hot air as the hot rock zips through the atmosphere”.
Peak viewing this year for the Perseids is the night of August 12-13 which is Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. Find a place that’s as dark as possible with a view of as much of the sky as possible. Plan to spend at least an hour watching. “Look towards the familiar constellations Cassiopeia and Perseus in the northeast”, according to NASA.
Of course any bonafide astronomer will be quick to tell you they are not “falling stars”, they are meteors which heat up when they come into contact with Earth’s atmosphere.
The meteor shower is comprised of tiny space debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle.
“Meteors are no larger than grains of sand or smaller”.
Those looking to watch the shower need to get out of urban areas in order to avoid light pollution.
Staying up past midnight might also help viewers spot meteors.
If you plan on taking in the show, Shaduk recommends heading out into the country away from the city lights.
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The brightness of the flash depends on how big the meteor is and how fast it’s going when it hits the moon – it seems the harder the impact, the brighter the flash.
