Perseid meteor shower set to light up sky

The Perseid shower will peak tonight and, with some luck, dozens of meteors will illuminate the night sky over the Northern Hemisphere. The last time a Perseid meteor shower coincided with a new moon was 2007, according to NASA.

One of the best meteor showers of the year is upon us. As the earth passes through the debris field left behind by the comet, that debris hits the atmosphere at an impressive 143,000 miles per hour and disintegrates in a blaze of light.

If for some reason you can’t make it outside tonight, the show will be pretty good on Thursday night too.

The University of Washington’s Astronomy Department says the best way to view the meteor shower will be when your viewing point is facing into the dust stream.

Sky-gazers can expect to see upwards of 50 streaking meteors per hour. We see this flaming demise as streaks of light in a darkened sky.

A moonless evening could give stargazers a fantastic light show. The comet of interest in this case is the Comet Swift Tuttle, which was last near earth in 1992.

Universe Today reports in Business Insider that the Perseid Meteor Shower, where the astronomers estimate that viewers can see around 100 meteors per hour, is at 4am ET on August 13 without the need of a telescope.

But in order to enjoy the full effect, you may want to pack some hot coffee. But it will reach its peak intensity Thursday morning at about 2 a.m. EDT. If you’re familiar with constellations, you’ll notice that they generally originate around Perseus (that’s how they got the name). Looking anywhere up in the sky is fine but views to the northeast should provide the most meteors. “In extraordinary years, the hourly rate can far exceed this and the sky may be spangled with many “fireballs” – meteors so bright that they may even cast shadows on the ground!”