Perseids Meteor Shower To Peak This Week

The meteor shower occurs in about the same spot in the night sky every year, because the fragments remain in Earth’s orbit and we keep passing through it; the Perseids in particular shows off its light show in the northwest sky. The showers tend to come in spurts, so there may be nothing for a period, followed by a sudden flurry of meteor activity. Stargazers in dark locations, away from the glow of streetlights and other light sources, have the best shot at seeing the most meteors. This means that the skies will be darker than usual, and after the Perseid meteor shower has taken place, there will be no moonlight to upstage it. Year after year, the Perseid meteor shower ranks as one of the best.

NASA says if you see only one meteor shower this year, make it the Perseids or December’s Geminids.

It is regarded as one of the brightest and most visible meteor showers.

The shower spans from mid-July to mid-September, but is most visible in mid- August.

The rate of meteors is determined by the density of the comet rubble stream the Earth passes through in any given year. The peak is after midnight on Wednesday to Thursday at daybreak, but good displays may be seen all this week. Either will reduce the amount of sky you can see, lowering the odds of catching sight of a meteor.

This week sees its peak, with up to 50 meteors per hour available for your viewing in the night sky.

There’s no need to fear that your house could get flattened by a rock falling from space – the Perseids are actually tiny specks of comet hitting the Earth’s atmosphere.

“By far the best night would be Wednesday night”, said Ray Brady, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Binghamton. And be sure to listen to Rocky Mountain High, because John Denver was writing about the Perseid meteor shower when he wrote about seeing it raining fire in the sky.

The shower is usually pretty damn impressive, even if you don’t have a load of special equipment to view it with. The meteors were appear to radiate out from the constellation Perseus, hence their name: Perseids. To have the best chance of seeing a meteor, pick a dark area (as far from bright city lights as possible) and face northeast.