From the rare shooting stars that possibly grant us our wishes (still up for debate) to seeing the brighter lights of other planets in the sky, outer space has had people fascinated for thousands of years. Although there’s no guarantee that we’ll see amazing sights like Halley’s Comet in our lives, we do get a chance to see the wonders of space thanks to the Perseid meteor shower.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory predicts that for those under ideal observing conditions (clear dark skies with no interference from city lights) this year’s Perseid meteor shower could spawn up to 100 meteors per hour.
The Perseids Meteor shower is easier for rookie astronomers of the Northern Hemisphere to spot due to the meteors having a relatively fast speed and enough brightness to leave trails.
This particular meteor shower seems to originate from the constellation Perseus in the Northern Hemisphere.
This meteor shower happens every August after the Earth encounters debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, which was last close to Earth in 1992. The Swift-Tuttle Comet is a similar size to the one that killed the dinosaurs, but its orbit has stabilized to the point that the comet’s trajectory should not collide with Earth.
So if you’re living in the Northern Hemisphere and not doing anything, find a nice place that’s away from the city life, settle down on a blanket and just enjoy the natural magic in the night sky.
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