The 2023 Perseid meteor shower seen over grasslands in China
Cynthia Lee/Alamy
The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best opportunities to see hundreds of shooting stars, and this year it peaks around 12 and 13 August. The shower is expected to last from mid-July until the end of August, but the most meteors will be visible in the wee hours of the nights close to the peak.
What is the Perseid meteor shower?
Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through the dust and detritus that trails behind a comet. Those tiny grains of debris slam into the atmosphere at extraordinary speeds, and the friction with atmospheric particles heats up the dust so intensely that it burns away, leaving only a flash of light in the air. That moving flash is what we call a shooting star or meteor.
The Perseids are caused by comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years. Earth passes through that trail of debris once a year, lighting up the sky with meteors.
When should you look for Perseid meteors?
The best dates to look for Perseid meteors are within a few days of the peak. Outside of that time frame, you might see a few but it won’t be anywhere near as impressive.
It is possible to see meteors at any time throughout the night, but the bright moon can make them more difficult to spot. This year there will be a half moon at the peak, so the second half of the night, after the moon sets, is the best time to hunt for meteors. That goes for viewers anywhere in the world, although the best views of the Perseid meteor shower are in the northern hemisphere because of the orientation of Earth with respect to the trail of cometary debris.
How many meteors could you see this year?
Generally, the Perseids produce between 50 and 100 meteors per hour during the peak of the shower. There can also be fireballs, which are brighter meteors that occur when larger chunks of cometary material smash into Earth’s atmosphere. The number of meteors visible from any particular spot is dependent on how much light pollution is present, so getting away from city lights is imperative if you want to see as many as possible.
How do you look for the Perseids?
The best way to observe any meteor shower is in the darkest location you can find, with as much of the sky visible as possible. While the Perseid meteors will seem to be shooting towards the constellation Perseus, they will appear across the entire sky. It can take around 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness, so don’t get disheartened if you can’t see anything at first. Let your eyes adjust – that means no looking at streetlamps, phones or even the moon – and take in as much of the sky as possible. If you see a tiny point of light moving across the sky for a few seconds or less, that’s a Perseid.
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