2023-08-13 00:09:47
The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak this weekend
The American Meteor Society says the best time to see these fast streaks of light is after midnight, and preferably near dawn.
Those outdoors where the sky is clear and free of light pollution might be lucky enough to see up to one meteor per minute.
The meteors should be fairly easy to see, as there will only be a sliver of the moon to contend with in the night sky.
The Perseids, one of the biggest meteor showers of the year, are the result of Earth colliding with dusty debris left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle, which completes its orbit around the sun every 133 years. His last appearance was in 1992.
You don’t need a telescope or binoculars to see meteors as they burn through the atmosphere, and they can appear just about anywhere in the sky.
This annual light show usually begins in mid-July and ends in early September. It takes its name from the constellation Perseus, which is where the comet debris stream appears to originate from as the Earth moves in the comet’s path.
This debris is mostly made up of tiny meteoroids, chunks of rock or iron that orbit the sun. When they hit the Earth’s atmosphere and create a brief flash of light, they are called meteors. A piece that manages to make it to the ground is a meteorite.
Meteors can usually be seen about 80 to 120 kilometers above Earth. When they turn on, they typically travel up to 72 kilometers per second, or about 26,000 kilometers per hour.
“Watching meteors is like watching graceful, natural fireworks, and you never know when or how brilliant the next shot will be,” reads the American Meteor Society’s website. .
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