Comet Swift-Tuttle. Image: NASA
On Wednesday night and Thursday early morning, the Perseids will light up the sky, delivering up to 100 meteors per hour across the sky and creating an impressive spectacle. All across the night sky, streaks of light will appear, indicating the burning up of a meteor or micrometeor in the atmosphere. There won't be a direction in particular, meaning a meteor could crop up just about anywhere in your view. As Weather.com points out, the shower was drowned out by a full moon last year, but with our sole natural satellite in its new moon phase, that problem won't happen this year.The shower occurs when the Earth crosses through the debris of Comet Swift-Tuttle. The Comet has a 133 year orbital period which takes it through the Earth-Moon system out to the orbit of Neptune. The meteors light up when dust and other debris enter Earth's atmosphere, with most of the debris located about 80,000 miles from Earth (1/3rd the distance of the Moon).Pre-dawn early morning hours are best for viewers in the United States, according to Universe Today, so you may have to set a 3 AM alarm to check out the peak meteor fall of the shower. Weather permitting, this is a great opportunity to go to a place with an unobstructed view of the sky, whether that means out in the countryside or just on the tallest building possible. However, some meteors will still be visible before then, so keep an eye in the sky after dark. They also point out that most areas of the United States will be clear, except the northeast. However, you can check Forecast.io to see just how cloudy it might be where you are.
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