HOUSTON – The best time to see the annual Perseid Meteor shower is 3-5 a.m. Sunday morning. This is the best display of meteors this year.
What meteors look like:
Every August as the Earth travels around the sun it passes through the bits of rock and dust from the Comet Swift Tuttle. It is inaccurate to call them shooting stars because they are pieces of rubble similar in shape, size, color and texture to Grape Nuts cereal.
Where it gets the name:
The Perseid meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Perseus. When you look up and trace where all the meteors are coming from, you’ll find this constellation. This is called the radiant.
What you are actually seeing:
The meteors travel at 37 miles per second, or 133,000 miles per hour. Each incoming particle compresses the air in front of it 60 miles high. Like water ahead of a speedboat, it creates a white-hot shock wave along its path. The flash of light our eyes see is that brief but brilliant shock wave — not the particle itself burning up. The particles never make it to Earth.
When to watch:
The best time to watch is the hours before dawn Sunday when the radiant point is highest in the sky. When that point is lower, more meteors will be hidden below the horizon.
This is a good year for the Perseids because the waning crescent moon will only be 10% lit. Online you may hear that you can see 100 meteors an hour. This isn’t accurate. To see a 100, you need a perfectly clear atmosphere with no wind, no clouds and complete darkness.
Any kind of outside light will hinder seeing the Perseids. Do you see our problem? If you can get away from city lights, you may see 10-20 meteors per hour. The forecast is for mostly clear skies, and it will be warm and humid. You don’t need special equipment. Simply go outside with an open view and look toward the darkest part of the sky. You can lay down on a blanket or a lawn chair is comfortable too. Give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust to the darkness.
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