The Perseids, often considered one of the best and biggest meteor showers of the year, is on deck to start soon. Each summer, it lasts for weeks and hits its peak in mid-August.
The Perseids are active from around July 17 to Aug. 23. They come at the perfect time of year for backyard viewing – no telescopes needed! They’re exciting because they are known for their bright fireballs arcing across the sky.
“With swift and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long ‘wakes’ of light and color behind them as they streak through Earth’s atmosphere,” according to NASA’s primer on this upcoming meteor shower. “The Perseids are one of the most plentiful showers with about 50 to 100 meteors seen per hour. They occur with warm summer nighttime weather, allowing sky watchers to comfortably view them.”
So, what’s with the fireballs? According to NASA, these are really colorful explosions of light that can make the “shooting star” look of a meteor seem brighter and longer than an average sky streak.
Perseids originate from the debris trail of Comet Swift-Tuttle. The fireballs come from the larger pieces of these comet leftovers.
As the meteor shower ramps up, night sky watchers can start seeing them as early as 10 p.m. But the best time to see them, NASA says, is toward the pre-dawn hours.
Peak days to see the Perseids this year will be Aug. 12 and 13.
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