The Perseid Meteor Shower is reaching its peak tonight and tomorrow with up to 100 shooting stars an hour expected.
The Perseids are said to be one of the best shooting star displays of the year. You don’t need any special equipment to view the meteor shower, just look up at the night sky and be patient.
A meteor shower occurs when the earth in its orbit around the sun passes through debris left over from the disintegration of comets.
The best time to look for the meteors is after midnight as the moon will be setting so the sky will be darkest between midnight and dawn. However if this is too late it is still worth looking at the night sky before midnight as you will have a good chance of seeing meteors you just won’t see the fainter ones.
When looking for shooting stars allow time for your eyes to adjust to the low light levels. After about 10/ 20 minutes you should begin to notice an increase in the bright streaks and fireballs in the night sky.
The darker the sky the better so try to avoid areas where there is light pollution. If you can’t make it outside tonight but are interested in seeing the shooting stars you can watch it live on The Virtual Telescope Project’s YouTube channel at 1am.
Finally if you are wondering why it is called the Perseid Meteor Shower it is because they appear to come from the Perseid constellation. This constellation was named after the Greek hero Perseus.
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