Wish upon a star
Your guide to the summer’s best meteor show
The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to be at its best this year, producing one or two meteors per minute during peak hours.
On the night of shower maximum, the Perseid radiant is not far from the famous "Double Star Cluster" of Perseus (hence the name, "Perseid"). Low in the northeast during the early evening, it rises higher in the sky until morning twilight ends observing. Shower members appearing close to the radiant have foreshortened tracks; those appearing farther away are often brighter, have longer tracks, and move faster across the sky.
About five to 10 of the meteors seen in any given hour will not fit this geometric pattern, and may be classified as sporadic or as members of some other (minor) shower.
Plan your time
Perseid activity increases sharply in the hours after midnight, so plan your observing times accordingly. We are then looking more nearly face-on into the direction of the Earth's motion as it orbits the sun, and the radiant is also higher up.
In addition to the Perseids, some skywatchers will have an opportunity to view another potentially strong meteor display at the beginning of September: the Aurigid meteors. We'll have more details on this in next week's Night Sky, so stay tuned!
The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to be at its best this year, producing one or two meteors per minute during peak hours.
On the night of shower maximum, the Perseid radiant is not far from the famous "Double Star Cluster" of Perseus (hence the name, "Perseid"). Low in the northeast during the early evening, it rises higher in the sky until morning twilight ends observing. Shower members appearing close to the radiant have foreshortened tracks; those appearing farther away are often brighter, have longer tracks, and move faster across the sky.
About five to 10 of the meteors seen in any given hour will not fit this geometric pattern, and may be classified as sporadic or as members of some other (minor) shower.
Plan your time
Perseid activity increases sharply in the hours after midnight, so plan your observing times accordingly. We are then looking more nearly face-on into the direction of the Earth's motion as it orbits the sun, and the radiant is also higher up.
In addition to the Perseids, some skywatchers will have an opportunity to view another potentially strong meteor display at the beginning of September: the Aurigid meteors. We'll have more details on this in next week's Night Sky, so stay tuned!