Perseid meteors to light up summer skies

A picture showing the sky at night during a Perseid meteor (left) shower, with a meteor streaking across the sky over St Loan Medieval Church near the village of Potsurnentsi in Bulgaria on August 12, 2013. Find a real nice dark place that has an eastern view that’s not obscured and doesn’t have a lot of city lights looking to the east.

Apart from the Perseid meteor shower, sky next week will also be hosting the Delta Aquarid meteor shower. Watching the Perseid meteor shower could be the flawless moment to make a wish as astronomers think they can come true due to the positive influence of the stars.

Instead of sitting in a chair or standing and craning your neck – which can get pretty tiring after a while – grab a lawn chair or a blanket so that you can lie down. This shower of meteors appears to originate from a single point, called a ‘radiant, ‘ in the constellation of Perseus, hence the name. However, finding a cloudless spot in the sky will enhance viewing of the meteors. This year, for the first time since 2007, this peak coincides with a new Moon on 14 August, creating ideal dark sky conditions for meteor-spotting. You might want to take your beloved one to a less populated area if you plan on attending the event.

“Everyone says you can see up to 60 an hour, but in reality you might, within a few minutes, see three, four or five meteors, and then wait 20 minutes or half hour and then see more, so it’s sporadic”, said Delestrez.

To see the Perseids you do not need a telescope, binoculars or any other equipment.

July has passed and August has started, which is the right time when sky hosts the Perseid meteor showers. The park is close enough to Atlanta to be convenient and far enough away so that light pollution is not a problem.

Experts said that as most of the meteors do occur after midnight, you could be fortunate to see an earthgrazer, a long, slow, colorful meteor traveling horizontally across the evening sky. So keep calm and look up at that meteor shower!