“If you are outside looking at the sky you should see at least several dozen if not more per hour“, said David Targen, Dir. of Brown University’s Ladd Observatory in Providence. After dark and until about midnight, the meteors will be mostly visible about 30 degrees above the horizon.
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The Perseid meteor shower over the European Southern Observatory.
Technically, the shower has been going on all month as the Earth moves through a cloud of debris left behind by the Swift-Tuttle comet.
According to NASA, people in the Northern Hemisphere will have the best view of the Perseids during the pre-dawn hours, but meteors can pop up in the night sky as early as 10pm.
“The Perseids, which peak during mid-August, are considered to be the best meteor shower of the year”, wrote NASA on its website.
The Perseids meteor shower is an annual event, which happens when the debris trail from Comet Swift-Tuttle encounters the Earth. The meteors will appear to originate near the constellation Perseus in the northeast, but they’ll streak across the sky. The peak Perseid period hit not only during a full moon but during the brightest Supermoon in years.
Mr Moore said while the show will peak tonight, it will last for the rest of the week. However this year the show is there in its full splendor since it will be a new moon night.
We should have pretty good viewing conditions tonight with a good bit of clear sky much of the night and temperatures in the 70s.
The first tip for viewing the meteor showers is to get away from city lights.
The brightest meteor shower of the year is coming up, and it should be very easy to see. It will be possible to see the odd meteor over the next few evenings too.
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Watch FOX 4 meteorologist Joe Lauria’s special report in the video player above, for tips on how to see tonight’s show at its best!
