Summer is famous for its meteor showers—and what many consider the best meteor shower of the year will soon peak, come mid-August.
By this, we mean the Perseids, a meteor shower beloved for its swift, bright meteors that frequently leave long streaks of light and color behind them as they shoot through Earth’s atmosphere.
These summer meteors became active on July 14 and will continue until Sept. 1, yet their peak activity is predicted for Aug. 11, 12, and 13, with this last presenting the best spectacle. So, there’s still lots of time to catch the light show!
How to Catch the Perseids Light Show
Overall, the Perseids increase gradually leading up to their peak, before petering out rapidly. Their activity also tends to intensify as late night wears on into dawn. So, although the Perseids rise in the late evening around 11 p.m., they culminate at their highest in the morning, with their expected peak being on Aug. 13, at 7:58 a.m. UTC.As for where to look, the Perseids favor the Northern Hemisphere, where they can appear anywhere in the sky. However, the point from which they seem to emanate—called their radiant point—is located in the constellation Perseus near the famous Double Cluster. Hence, the Perseids got their name from said constellation, which, in turn, is named after that mythical Greek hero.
Both constellation and radiant point can be found almost due-northeast, just shy of 60 degrees above the horizon during peak.
And, favorable for meteor viewing, the waning crescent moon at this time, with only 10 percent illumination, will present optimally dark conditions. The nearest moon cycle, the new moon, falls on Aug. 16.
Where the Perseids Come From: A Comet!
Although the Perseid meteor shower seems to radiate from the constellation Perseus, there is no other connection between these meteors and those stars than this. The constellation is light years away while the cosmic dust that begets these meteors is orbiting around our sun. When we see meteors, they appear as streaks of light in the sky as they enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up—giving the appearance of “shooting stars.” This occurs only roughly 60 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth’s surface.
Rather, meteors are actually the leftover debris of passing comets or asteroids, also orbiting the sun. Scientists believe the parent object of the Perseids is the large comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun only once every 133 years, disappearing for several generations before returning.
Said comet was first discovered by Lewis Swift, from Marathon, New York, on July 16, 1862, who observed the object using a 4.3-inch (11-centimeter) refractor lens telescope. Three days later, Horace Tuttle spotted it from the Harvard Observatory. It was named in their honor.
Although scientists had originally calculated its return would occur 120 years later, in 1982, this prediction was in error. The comet would not be seen again until 1992. The reappearance of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle was also accompanied by two Perseid meteor shower outbursts—one in 1991 and the other the following year. Although we likely won’t see this comet again in our lifetimes, its famous yearly summer meteors remain a keepsake.
