According to Space.com, the Perseid meteor shower is one of the best shooting star displays of the year and it's currently active. Learn how and when to look up this month.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
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TechTranscript
00:00 August brings one of the best-known annual meteor showers, the Perseids.
00:05 And this year, the stage is set for a good show as the peak night, August 12th and into
00:10 the 13th, is near the new moon.
00:13 The meteors are bits of dust, most no larger than sand grains, that originate from Comet
00:17 Swift-Tuttle.
00:19 Earth sweeps through the comet's debris trail every year about this same time, resulting
00:23 in the annual shower.
00:25 The radiant, the point in the sky where the meteors appear to originate, is toward the
00:29 northeast appearing in between the upside-down "W" of constellation Cassiopeia and bright
00:35 star Capella.
00:37 Observing the Perseids is easy, just find yourself a safe, dark spot to lie down with
00:42 your feet pointing roughly toward the northeast and look straight up.
00:46 The best time to view them is between midnight and dawn as the radiant rises higher in the
00:50 sky.
00:51 Meteor activity likely will be at its greatest in the hour preceding dawn.
00:56 The crescent moon also rises in the couple of hours before dawn, but it's only about
01:00 7% illuminated, so it shouldn't pose a significant problem for viewing the meteors.
01:05 You might also see a few meteors in the early morning hours during the week before and after
01:09 the peak.
01:09 (whooshing)