The Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak between August 11th and 13th, marking one of the best meteor showers of the year, according to stargazers. However, the first meteors were visible in July and will continue to be visible throughout most of the month of August. The best chance to spot a meteor is just after midnight until about an hour before sunrise. Although meteors can be seen with the naked eye, check the weather in your area since it may affect visibility.
The Perseid meteors are visible all around the world and are so-called because they appear to be originating from within the constellation Perseus. While on most nights the shower will only showcase a few meteors each hour, the peak of the Perseids can bring many more, up to 100 or more meteors per hour. We see meteors when the Earth passes through trails of debris from comets or asteroids. As that debris hits our planet’s atmosphere, it burns up and creates spectacular streaks of light. The Perseids, pronounced ‘Per-see-ids’, are caused by debris left behind by the Swift-Tuttle comet.
Dr Gregory Brown, Senior Public Astronomy Officer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich said that the Perseids are one of the fastest meteor showers, travelling up to 37 miles per second. However, they are about the size of specks of paint or grains of sand falling into the atmosphere, causing a brilliant light show. Even if the tiny particles did reach the ground they would cause no harm.
Stargazers advise that to watch the meteor shower, try and get to the darkest location possible with an unobstructed view of the sky. The darker the area, the better chance of seeing meteors streaking across the sky. “Fill your view with as much of the sky as you possibly can, lying down or using a deck chair and then just wait and allow your eyes to adapt to the dark and eventually, fingers crossed, if it’s nice and clear and you’re watching for an hour or so, you should at least be able to catch a handful,” said Dr Brown.
In terms of where in the UK is best to watch the meteor shower, BBC weather forecaster Billy Payne says that clear spells are expected for most of the UK on Sunday night. However, the amount of cloud could increase in the west of Britain and Northern Ireland. The best viewing conditions will be across the east of England and perhaps East Scotland. On Monday night, the north and west of the UK should have some clear skies initially, but cloud will increase and spells of rain will push in here later. Eastern Scotland could see some showery rain lingering for a time, perhaps throughout the night across the Northern Isles, but elsewhere there should be some clear spells around. On Tuesday night, there will be good clear skies in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the south and east of England, there may be some rain and areas of cloud with clear spells in between. Parts of the north and the west of England are likely to be stuck under a front, meaning limited viewing potential for many
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