The summary
- The annual Perseid meteor shower has begun and will peak on the night of August 12.
- Normally this is one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year, with many shooting stars appearing every hour.
- The Perseids are created when dust particles and debris from a comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
One of the year’s most beautiful meteor showers is underway, giving you a chance to see shooting stars in the summer sky.
The annual Perseid meteor shower began Sunday and will last through late August, with this year’s shower peaking overnight on August 12 and into the early morning of August 13.
The Perseid meteor shower is usually one of the most dramatic because it produces bright meteors at a high hourly rate. At the height of the shower, stargazers could see up to 100 per hour from dark locations (weather permitting).
Because the shower occurs in the summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a popular event as the sky is then seen in warm conditions.
Meteors are often called “shooting stars,” but the celestial phenomena are created by small bits of debris in space burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
The Perseid meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through a cloud of dust particles and leftover debris from a comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862. The streaks of light are created when the particles hit the atmosphere and evaporate, leaving bright trails as they disintegrate.
The Perseids get their name because the meteors appear to stream from a point in the sky where the constellation Perseus is located, according to NASA. The constellation rises in the northeast, but meteors should be visible from anywhere in the sky if conditions are clear.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Perseids are best seen from midnight to sunrise, after sunset.
For optimal viewing, observers should choose a dark, unobstructed spot, away from city lights or other light pollution.