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You could see 200 meteors an hour in tonight’s Perseid shower
Posted On Aug 11 2016
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According to Space.com, this year’s Perseids will be one heck of a light show as the 2016 meteor shower is slated to run double the normal 50 to 60 meteors per hour, which is something NASA says hasn’t happened since 2009.
A stargazer waits for the Perseid meteor shower to begin near Bobcaygeon, Ontario, on August 12, 2015. The Perseids are tiny pieces of icy debris that are left in the trail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years.
Known for its fast and bright meteors, the annual Perseid meteor shower is anticipated to peak on the night of August 11-12, NASA said in a statement.
According to astronomer Bill Cooke from NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office, under ideal conditions we could be treated to up to a whopping 200 meteors every hour. The meteors will appear near the constellation Perseus in the north-eastern part of the sky. The show is supposed to really kick off after midnight Friday morning.
Astronomers expect this shower, however, to feature 20 times the usual meteors seen per hour to at least 200 meteors an hour. But with a tendency to have overcast skies, will the Northwest get a glimpse of that light show?
Increased activity also may be seen Saturday morning. The Perseids are dust bits from Comet Swift-Tuttle and are famous for creating bright fireballs and elevated meteor activity for almost two weeks in mid-August.
Some of the particles are as small as a grain of sand and will enter the Earth’s upper atmosphere at around 130,000mph, lighting up the night sky as fast-moving streaks of light as they burn up. NASA said it will set around 1 a.m. local time on August 12, leaving the prime window for meteor viewing free of its light. On this occasion Jupiter’s gravity has moved some streams of comet material closer to Earth, setting the stage for a dazzling celestial display. The best way to view the shower is to find a safe place outside that has as little light pollution as possible, and to lie flat on your back or use some sort of reclining chair.
