During Saturday's peak, a meteor should be visible every two minutes,
according to NASA.
On Saturday, August 12, the finest meteor shower of the year, the Perseid,
is predicted to reach its zenith with an average rate of 40 meteors per
hour. The Perseids is one of the most frequent meteor showers, and this
year's viewing conditions are ideal.
Although it might not go quite as high this time, the Moon won't be in the
way of a decent display as it was in 2022 because it will be in a declining
crescent. The rate per hour of this shower can approach 100 meteors an hour
in excellent years. NASA estimates that about one meteor should be seen
every two minutes in the Northern Hemisphere.
"On peak evenings, Americans could expect to see about 40 Perseid meteors
in the hour right before dawn. Bill Cooke, the director of NASA's Meteoroid
Environment Office, wrote about this in a
blog post. "That's about one every couple of minutes, which is not bad," he said.
But we're thinking you're in the country, far from any cities or
suburbs.
A clear, black sky and some time to let your eyes acclimate to the darkness
(so no phone displays) are the optimum conditions for viewing them. The
meteors are visible in all directions, although they seem to come from the
Perseus constellation, which rises towards the northeast. The Southern Delta
Aquarids were at their height about two weeks ago, but those living on the
opposite side of the equator had a higher chance of seeing them.
The dispersed pieces of asteroids or comets that have been thrown into
Earth's orbit are known as meteor showers. The recurring comet Swift-Tuttle
is the parent body of this meteor shower. Every 133 years, an ice chunk from
space makes a trip to the inner Solar System. The portion of its lengthy
tail that crosses Earth's orbit and evaporates as it gets closer to the Sun
produces the Perseid meteor shower.
There is yet another odd record for the Perseids. It is the only meteor
shower to prevent a space shuttle from taking off. A rather powerful shower
was predicted to last the entirety of the Perseid meteor shower, which
occurred from July 14 to September 1, thirty years ago.
A series of scrubs
caused the launch window to move towards the active section of the Perseids,
delaying the launch, which was initially scheduled for mid-July. On
September 12, 1993, the space shuttle Discovery ultimately lifted off.
This weekend, even if the weather isn't cooperative, you may still view the
show thanks to the
Virtual Telescope Project. People can view and hear the meteors as they bounce across the sky thanks
to the
UK Radio Astronomy Meteor Beacon.
