This Weekend Brings Peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower with Enhanced Viewing

This weekend, the Perseid meteor shower will reach its highest point, illuminating the night sky with dazzling streaks of light.

With only a small moon in the sky, conditions are ideal this year to see lots of meteors.

“If you have good clear weather and good dark skies, you’ll go out just before dawn and see the Perseid within a minute,” said NASA meteorologist Bill Cooke. “It’s a pretty good show.”

Here’s how to watch the meteor shower:

WHAT ARE PERSEIDS?

The Perseids – one of the largest meteor showers we can see – occur every year in late summer. A meteor shower occurs when the Earth moves through debris fields floating in space. The Perseids come from Comet Swift-Tuttle, a large ball of ice and rock that sheds dusty debris as it orbits the Sun. As the Earth passes by, those pieces get stuck in our atmosphere and burn up, creating streaks. The Perseids get their name from the constellation Perseus, because the paths of the meteors seem to start from this point in the sky.

WHEN IS THE SHOWER?

This year’s shower is already active, but the main event is this weekend, when rain will peak from Saturday night into Sunday morning. Starting around 11 p.m. local time on Saturday, a few meteors will begin to appear – perhaps one every 15 minutes, Cooke estimated. They’ll keep going until dawn Sunday, when “you’ll see meteors popping up all over the place,” he said.

HOW DO I SEE THEM?

During this weekend’s peak, the moon will be a waning crescent – just a tiny sliver in the sky. This is good news because a bright moon can make it harder to spot meteors. Last year, the moon was full at peak time. All of the Northern Hemisphere has good visibility this year, as long as the sky is clear with light pollution and clouds. You don’t need equipment to see them, but you do need to give your eyes about half an hour to adjust to the dark. Avoid looking at your cell phone as it can ruin your night vision.

The Perseids can appear anywhere in the sky. So just “lay on your back, look away from the moon and take in as much sky as you can,” Cooke said.