Keep an eye in the sky because the Perseids meteor shower has begun, with its peak coming next week.
The Perseids meteor shower is considered the best of the year as it produces nearly 100 meteors an hour at its peak. And this year, its peak is during the night.
As astronomer, Gary Boyle, explains, the Perseids hit its peak in the late hours of August 11th and August 12th:
“The complete shower lasts from July 14th to August 24th so of course there’s a peak for everything and that’ll come on, a little over two nights from August 11th into the morning of the 12th, and then again the next night. The night of the 12th into the morning of the 13th.”
With weather conditions expected to be perfect during the shower's peak, Boyle says that people should get out and watch the Perseids:
“So people can head out to the countryside, safely of course, and you’ll be rewarded with the beautiful Milky Way or two of our gas giant planets, which are Jupiter and Saturn in the southern sky. They’ll be about an arm’s length apart with Jupiter on the left. And again, just meteors dashing through the sky.”
Boyle also says that this year is the best year to watch the Perseids:
“The moon will have set a couple hours after sunset, and we’ll not be seeing that glow in the sky. So it’s a good year that the moon will not be out and there should be a lot of meteors.”
The meteor shower started on July 14th and will go on until August 24th.
