Will We See The Perseids?

Will we see the Perseids? There's a question I've been asked quite a lot over the last few days. My answer? Yes. If you can get away from the city lights you will ikely see dozens of "shooting stars" which is both an unfortunate and incorrect term. The Perseids are, of course, not stars but are meteors. They are litterally the remnants of the comet Swift-Tuttle whose orbit intersects Earth's. As we pass through the comet's orbit, this debris enters our atmosphere and burns up in a dazzling display of light that is a treat to watch on a clear night. A clear night, however, is not the only caveat to see the peak of this meteor shower. The constellation Perseus must also be visible and not hidden below the horizon . The image above (courtesy of NASA) is shaded red where tonight's peak will not be visible. As you can see, most of the planet will be able to enjoy tonight's show pending clear conditions and I think the night sky will be mainly clear for tonight. As for the best time to keep an eye to the sky...between midnight and 4am. If your outside between these times you can expect to see as many as 50 to 100 meteors an hour. Very cool!