Viewing the Perseids

The Perseid meteor shower is the Northern hemisphere’s most-observed shower of the year. It begins in July and usually peaks in the second week of August. The meteors in the Perseid shower come from Comet Swift-Tuttle, which returns from the fringes of the solar system about every 130 years. Comet Swift-Tuttle last visited the inner solar system in 1992, and the Perseid meteors have been quite impressive most years since then.

The Perseids are named for the constellation Perseus, from which they appear to radiate. Perseus will appear over the northeast horizon and climb higher in the sky as the night progresses. But don’t plan to stare at that single constellation all night. The meteors can actually appear in any part of the sky; if you trace them backward from where you see them, they will seem to have come from a point near Perseus. Like all meteor showers, the Perseids will be more numerous after midnight, when the observer’s portion of the Earth is moving forward into the dust particles spread along our orbital path.

Astronomers can predict the peak time of a meteor shower with relatively good accuracy. Viewing may also be good before and after the peak. Because the Perseids occur during the summer, the weather is generally warm, making viewing conditions quite comfortable. This means observers can spend long periods of time outdoors watching for meteors. The Perseids usually reward them for their efforts.

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