Best Place and Time to View Perseids Meteor Shower

If it doesn't rain on Sunday night in , we should be able to get a decent view of the Perseids meteor shower, which is set to peak this weekend.

How the weather will turn out on Saturday and Sunday night is anyone's guess, but on Saturday night, skies are predicted to be clear, and rain is predicted on Sunday night. Overnight low temperatures will be in the in the upper 50s on Saturday and the low 60s on Sunday, so don't forget to bring a coat. 

Because of our proximity to the city of Chicago and all that light pollution, going west will be your best bet for better shows. The shower will be at its peak in Illinois between 11 p.m. on Saturday and 4:30 a.m. for Sunday, as long as that rain doesn't come early.

If you want to catch this show, I'd suggest a drive west of at least 45 minutes. The show will be better the darker the skies.

(Do you know of a great location? Share it in the comments section below!)

The Perseids are a meteor shower visible when the Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. The meteor shower has been visible for about 2,000 years. The Swift-Tuttle comet orbits once every 133 years, according to NASA.

“The Perseids can be seen all over the sky, but the best viewing opportunities will be across the northern hemisphere,” according to a 2011 NASA release. “Those with sharp eyes will see that the meteors appear to radiate from the direction of the constellation Perseus.”

Viewing Tips

At its peak, the Perseids meteor shower could display up to 40 meteors per hour in the pre-dawn hours Sunday. The American Meteor Society recommends viewing this meteor shower between midnight and dawn Saturday and Sunday.

Space.com has these tips and more:

Get as far away from city and other artificial lights as possible. Meteor showers are best viewed in really dark skies. Try to keep the moon out of your field of vision, too.

Be patient. It may take your eyes a few minutes to adjust to the light and see the meteors.

You don’t need binoculars or a telescope – that will only limit the amount of sky you can see.