Conditions good for viewing Perseid meteor shower in New Hampshire

The Perseids are active from July 13 to Aug. 26, according to the American Meteor Society, a nonprofit scientific organization that supports the research of astronomers, but the meteor shower peaks between Aug. 12-13.

The meteor shower coincides with a new moon, which provides close to optimal conditions.

The annual Perseid Meteor Shower will peak Tuesday and Wednesday night with up to 60 shooting stars per hour possible.

The Perseid meteor shower, known also as simply the Perseids, is here, and the next couple of nights are the best time to catch the show.

Of course, It helps to be in a dark location as bright city lights can obscure your vision.

Some skywatchers have already glimpsed Perseid meteors this week. “As Perseus rises and the night deepens, meteor rates will increase”, NASA explained. Swift-Tuttle is about 16 miles in diameter and orbits the sun once every 133 years.

Attached is a video from NASA with more detail on why this is expected to be such a great year for viewing this particular meteor shower.

The Perseids is actually pieces of comet Swift Tuttle hitting the earth’s atmosphere.

If the clouds are too thick in your area or you couldn’t watch it, the next best time to see it is 9pm on Thursday. To view the shower just lie back and look up in the sky toward the northeast. “All you need is some dark sky and some time to lay out and take a look at it”.

Janet Anderson, a public affairs officer with the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, said stargazers can expect to spot meteors between 3:30 a.m. and sunrise.

If you’re looking for a shooting star to wish upon, you may find Wednesday night to be a dream come true! But the odds are considerably higher during a heavy meteor shower like the Perseids.