Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight: How to Watch

If you watch one meteor shower all year, then catch the overnight Perseid shooting star display tonight.

This weekend, the annual Perseid meteor shower peaks, sending hundreds of shooting stars flying through the night sky in what many experts call the best shower of the year.

"We expect to see meteor rates as high as a hundred per hour," Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office said in a statement. "The Perseids always put on a good show."

To see the Perseid meteor shower, all you need are your naked eyes and a relatively dark spot to view from. Avoid light pollution if at all possible, as city lights can obscure all but the brightest meteors. And weather conditions such as clouds can also dampen the sights, so if you catch a clear weather window, take advantage of it.

The peak of the meteor shower should occur between midnight and 9 a.m. EDT (0400 and 1300 GMT, or UT) on Sunday, Aug. 12. However, viewing during dark hours between now and the beginning of next week should provide ample meteor sights. The dark hours between Saturday night and Sunday morning should be especially fruitful for meteor hunting. [Spectacular Perseid Meteor Shower Photos]

The shooting stars will appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, named after the ancient Greek hero — hence the name Perseids.

This peak occurs as planet Earth passes through the trail of debris left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle. Bits of rock and ice from the comet slam into Earth's atmosphere, burning up to create short-lived streaks of light that we see as shooting stars. Our planet meets with Swift-Tuttle's trail every year in late July or early August.

This year's pass through the Perseids will be extra-special because of a celestial show going on now. The bright planets Jupiter and Venus, along with the crescent moon, are visible in the night sky alongside the Perseids, offering an especially dazzling sight for stargazers. These planets, and the moon, will be aligned in the eastern sky before dawn Aug. 11 to Aug. 13.

Luckily for observers, the moon should not be bright enough to obscure most meteors, but should provide a complementary celestial wonder to behold.

"Sky watchers say there's nothing prettier than a close encounter between the slender crescent moon and Venus — nothing, that is, except for the crescent moon, Venus and a flurry of Perseids," astronomer Tony Phillips wrote on the Science@NASA website.

Editor's note: If you snap an amazing photo of the 2012 Perseid meteor shower that you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, send images and comments (including name and location) to managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.

Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+. 

Copyright 2012 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Perseid Meteor Shower Light Show Peaks Tonight (SPACE.com)

In a double weekend treat, one of the most well-known and reliable meteor showers — the Perseid meteor shower — will reach its peak overnight Friday (Aug. 12) as the International Space Station flies across the sky above many U.S. cities.

The annual Perseid meteor shower returns this week, but is expected to hit its peak activity in the overnight hours of Friday and Saturday (Aug. 13). While the full moon of August may interfere with the meteor display, the best time to catch the pretty light show (weather permitting) is during the predawn hours, especially on Saturday morning, experts at NASA advise. 

And if you're looking skyward before dawn this week, you might also be able to glimpse the space station overhead. [Photos: Amazing Perseid Meteor Shower Displays]

The International Space Station will be making a series of early morning flybys over the U.S. throughout this week and into the weekend, NASA officials said. The massive orbiting complex shines bright enough that its visibility in the sky is not drowned out by moonlight or city lights.

NASA's space station tracker lists local flyby times, including those for several major cities such as Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York, that are expected to have good viewing opportunities on Friday and Saturday.

NASA is inviting the public to participate in a Perseids webchat and "all-night" meteor shower viewing party, hosted by astronomer Bill Cooke and his team from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The webchat will begin at 11:00 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT) on Friday (Aug. 12) and will last until 5:00 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT) on Saturday (Aug. 13).

The Perseid meteor shower occurs every year as Earth passes through a stream of dust particles and debris from the Comet Swift-Tuttle. As these specks of comet dust hit the top of Earth's atmosphere at speeds of up to 140,000 miles per hour (225,000 kilometers per hour), they are heated and form bright meteor streaks that can be seen across the sky.

These meteors stream out of the constellation of Perseus, which is how the meteor shower got the name "Perseids." [Top 10 Perseid Meteor Shower Facts]

Skywatchers around the world are currently counting more than a dozen Perseids each hour, according to NASA and the International Meteor Organization. The light show should reach its peak between Aug. 12 and 13, as Earth orbits near the heart of the comet debris stream.

This year, however, the full moon occurs one hour after the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, which could outshine some of the fainter Perseids that would normally be visible against a darker sky, according to NASA. But before dawn, the full moon will be relatively low and the meteor count should be high at that time. [Video: Perseid Meteor Shower 2011 Guide]

The meteor shower will likely be viewed best under dark country skies, which will help eliminate light pollution.

Gaherty also reminds meteor watchers to have patience, as the streaks usually come in bunches, with wait times in between. He recommends budgeting at least an hour or two of skywatching to catch a good glimpse of this year's shower. 

Editor's note: If you snap an amazing photo of a Perseid meteor this year and would like to share it with SPACE.com for a possible story or gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at: tmalik@space.com.

You can follow SPACE.com staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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