Perseid Meteor Shower Viewing Peaks August 12th – 13th

The Perseid Meteor Shower is set for this Monday-Tuesday, August 12-13 although you could catch some meteors as early as Saturday the 10th. This is your chance to see an incredible meteor shower of about 50-100 shooting stars per hour. This will be a spectacular show if you are willing to stay up for it.

The best time to view the show will be after midnight and in the early hours before dawn, say 4-5 am. You will see meteors streak the sky at a rate of 1 or so a minute, but you could get lucky and see what is called an 'earthgrazer'. This is a long, slow, more colorful meteor that falls horizontally across the sky.

You don't need any special equipment to see the meteor shower, but it's best to be where the sky is open and very dark. It will be harder to see if you are in the city where there is much light. Also, you'll want to give yourself a little time because the shower can come in spurts of a few meteors then fall into a lull and reappear after a few minutes.