From solar eclipses to multiple appearances of the Northern Lights, skywatchers have no shortage of reasons to get out and marvel at the skies this year. The show is far from over, with a parade of planets taking place later in August, and a once-in-a-lifetime nova explosion could happen at any time. While you wait, the Perseid meteor shower is about to peak between August 11 and 13.
The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most popular and consistent celestial events in the night sky, so named because its meteors appear from the general direction of the constellation Perseid. These meteors are produced by Comet Swift-Tuttle as Earth passes through the comet’s tail, burning up various ice and rocks in the atmosphere.
This year, the shower begins on July 14 and will last until September 1, although the showers tend to peak within the same three days each year.
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Until the shower reaches its peak, meteor activity is more or less random. According to the American Meteor Society, once the peak occurs, 50 to 75 meteors will appear in the sky per hour, although NASA predicts that 100 meteors per hour may appear. These meteors were originally called meteoroids, and the name was changed to meteors when they hit the Earth’s atmosphere traveling at speeds in excess of 130,000 mph.
The Perseid meteor shower has already seen at least one meteor shower event this year. The Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids peak in late July, and because the Perseids are active during this period, they combine to form a rare triple shower. Since the other two meteor showers end on August 21 and August 15, it’s actually very unlikely that one of the meteors you see during the Perseids is from one of the other two meteor showers.
A meteor streaks across the sky during the 2023 Perseid meteor shower.
Where can the Perseid meteor shower be seen?
Most of the planet will be able to witness the Perseid meteor shower event. This includes the entire northern hemisphere and the northern half of the southern hemisphere. Further south you may run into some problems.
In short, anywhere in the night sky where Perseids are visible, you can see the Perseid meteor shower.
If you want to know where you are in the night sky, Time and Date is a great tool to try. Enter your location and date. After that, use the tool’s slider to change the time to around midnight or 1 a.m. and scan the sky for Perseus. Then just look in that direction on the specified day. For example, in central Ohio, Perseus will be along the northeastern horizon of the sky.
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Sky Tonight (Android, iOS) is another great mobile app. Enter your location and fast forward to August 11-13. From there, find Perseus in the sky and note the direction and its distance from the horizon. Shooting stars can be seen by looking in that direction on a given night.
Best time to see the Perseids meteor shower?
Predictions of the best days vary. NASA said the best time is August 13, EarthSky said August 12, and the American Meteor Society said the best time is from the night of August 11 to August 12. So we’ll split the difference here and recommend checking it out on all three nights. No matter which night you choose, this should be a pretty good show.
If you want the best time to see a lot of shooting stars, midnight to 5 a.m. is the best time. At that time, the sky will be darkest. For most of the Northern Hemisphere, the moon should also set sometime between midnight and 1:30 a.m. so that the moon’s light doesn’t drown out the meteors.
Do I need any special tools to see the Perseid meteor shower?
Won’t. Binoculars can help, but telescope users run the risk of missing meteors by focusing on too small an area of the sky. Those who want to take photos of the event will be able to get a good look at the meteors using smartphone cameras or more professional cameras.
Follow the standard rules for observing objects in the night sky. You’ll want to stay as far away from light pollution as possible, and of course, weather is also a factor. The moon shouldn’t be a problem because the American Meteor Society says it should be low or below the horizon when the cosmic fireworks begin.
Time magazine estimates that suburbanites will see it about 10 times an hour if they’re lucky, while people in big cities may not see it at all. Therefore, the closer you are to the city, the better to drive out of town to see the showers.
What causes the Perseid meteor shower?
Comet Swift-Tuttle orbits the sun every 48,700 days, which is equivalent to 133⅓ years. The comet is one of the larger comets in the solar system, with a radius of 16 miles, which NASA says is nearly twice the estimated size of the comet that allegedly killed the dinosaurs.
As a comet orbits the sun, it leaves behind a tail of dust, ice, and debris. About once a year, Earth’s orbit passes directly through the comet’s tail, leaving a trail in the comet’s debris. The debris that ends up burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere is called a meteor, and the debris field the Earth flies through is called the Perseid meteor shower.
The American Shooting Star Society has a neat diagram that shows how this all works. Swift-Tuttle has a massive debris field that’s constantly flying over it, and Earth’s orbit takes us through it at about the same time every year, like clockwork.
