How to catch the Perseid Meteor Shower

Michelle’s Forecast: More sunshine, then great night for meteor shower!.

The meteor will originate near the constellation Perseus in the northeast, but they’ll streak across the sky.

The shower will light up the sky as dust particles heat up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere, according to University of Washington’s Astronomy Department.

He counsels that the headline figure of 100 meteors per hour is somewhat misleading.

You need to use a larger Digital SLR-type camera.

“If you see one meteor shower this year, make it August’s Perseids or December’s Geminids”, NASA says.

The Moon is in its dark phase, the skies across most of the Midwest should be clear and even the overnight temperatures should be comfortable for being outside.

Chris Boundey spent Monday night at Dunstanburgh Castle in Northumberland, saying the meteors “seemed to be coming thick and fast overhead”. In addition, the moon is just a thin crescent tonight and will set early in the evening, which means less competition for light and a better chance to see the meteors.

Those in the north of England will have a better view. This photo taken by Matt Freechack near Lansing shows a nice catch of a meteor near dawn on Monday.

It is caused by pieces of dust which have fallen from Comet Swift-Tuttle, which was last seen in 1992 and is not due back across our skies for 130 years.

The meteor shower is best viewed away from city lights which will obscure all but the brightest meteors. In areas where the weather is good, you may be able to see one shooting star per minute.

Some astronomers are predicting we could see hundreds to thousands of meteors streaking across the sky.

“There will be an extra treat when the global Space Station, with six astronauts on board, will blaze across the sky”, he added.