Making the Most of Your Perseids Meteor Shower Viewing

Many of us will be heading to nearby parks, fields and observatories – – this weekend for some late-night sky watching. 

The Perseid meteor shower will light up the sky this Saturday night into early Sunday morning with about 100 meteors per hour, according to NASA. 

To make the best of your Perseids viewing, Spacedex.com recommends settling in a dark spot where you can avoid light from cities and vehicles. 

And, though this may seem counterintuitive, the site advises viewers to avoid looking directly up at the sky or into the radiant (the point where the shower appears to originate). 

Instead, look slightly away from this point or about halfway up into the sky for the best show. 

that the Perseids are named for the constellation they appear to originate from – Perseus – but in reality, only appear to be coming from the constellation.

The meteor shower is actually caused when the Swift-Tuttle comet orbits the sun and the Earth passes through a cloud of debris left behind. 

EarthSky.org tips viewers to find out what day and time the shower will peak – Saturday night and pre-dawn on Sunday for us. And, just for fun, the site recommends checking out the number of meteors per shower.

For those of you unable to make the sparkly show in person, NASA will host a live video/audio feed of the Perseid shower on the evening of Aug. 11.

Do you know a good place to view the meteor shower in or near Rockville? Tell us in the comments.