If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you might want to plan a late-night campout in the coming weeks as the Perseid Meteor Shower is coming to our skies! The star show began on July 14 and will run through August 24, reaching peak intensity from August 11 to August 13.
A viewing will be best around two in the morning when skies are darkest and during peak times, you’ll be able to see 50 to 100 meteors per hour. The best way to view the event is away from city lights and, surprisingly, without a microscope.
The Perseid Meteor Shower was named after the constellation Perseus, first officially discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle. The meteors are part of a large comet, the 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun every 133 years.
If you don’t live in the Northern Hemisphere (or in a region where you can easily see stars), you can check out the event in a NASA live stream.
