Watch The Perseid Meteor Shower Tonight [Video]
Ready for some skywatching? The annual Perseid Meteor shower will peak tonight, August 11th, and will continue into the wee hours of August 12th.
Skywatchers typically report seeing as many as 100 meteors per hour during the Perseid meteor shower. This year’s view may be slightly diminished by a waning crescent moon but NASA still expects a pretty good show.
The space organization will be hosting a live chat tonight at NASA.org. The “Up All Night” live chat will feature astronomer Bill Cooke and his team from the Meteoroid Environment Office. The team will answer questions and broadcast the meteor shower live. The chat will start at 11 pm EST tonight and will continue until 3 am tomorrow morning. The live broadcast of the meteor shower will start at dusk.
Of course, some people may not want to be sitting at their computers during the annual sky show.
If you’re hoping to see the Perseid Meteor shower in person, here are a few tips to get a good seat.
First, get away from the city. Cities give off a lot of light pollution making it harder to see stars and planets. Also, your best opportunity to see the Perseid Meteor shower is going to come during the dark pre-dawn hours of August 12th. So get some coffee and a blanket and get ready for a late night or a really morning. Lastly, keep an eye out for Jupiter and Venus. NASA writes that this year’s Perseids are extra special since the planets will be right in the center of the shooting stars.
Here’s a video about the Perseid Meteor Shower.
Here’s a live feed from NASA TV. If you can’t see the Perseid Meteor shower below head on over to NASA.org for a live broadcast and chat with NASA’s Bill Cooke.
