The Perseid meteor shower, which is considered the best meteor shower of the year, has begun to reach its highest point. This year, the shooting stars will be very bright because the Moon will not be very bright in the sky, unlike last year.
This means that even some of the faint shooting stars can be seen. The Perseid meteor shower happens between July 17 and August 24 every year, but the most shooting stars can be seen between August 9 and 13.
Shooting stars happen when the Earth goes through the dusty bits left behind by icy comets or rocky asteroids that travel around the Sun. When comets go around the Sun, they leave dusty stuff behind them.
The Perseid shooting stars are made of tiny bits from a comet called 109P or Swift-Tuttle. These shooting stars are named after a group of stars called Perseus because they seem to come from the same direction in the sky.
When the Perseid shooting stars are at their highest point, you can see 60 to 100 shooting stars every hour if you’re in a dark place. This year, in India, you might even see up to 100 shooting stars every hour at the peak of the Perseids, according to timeanddate.com.
The Perseid shooting stars started to be most visible from around 8:30 pm IST on August 13, and they were bright until 5:30 am IST on August 14.
How to Watch the Perseids Meteor Shower?
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you have the best chance to see the Perseid meteor shower every year.
To see the most shooting stars during the Perseid meteor shower, you don’t need special stuff. Just find a place without a lot of nearby lights. This helps make the sky clear. Once you’re there, wait for about 15 to 20 minutes for your eyes to get used to the dark. Then, look up at the sky where the shooting stars seem to come from.
If you can’t find a place without too much light around, you can still see the amazing show on the internet.
Where to Watch?
If you want to watch the Perseids, you can click on the YouTube video below.
