ATLANTA — The Perseid meteor shower peaks at the end of the weekend. The streaks of bright light seen in the sky during the Perseids are meteors from debris and dust left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle, according to NASA.
Arguably one of the best meteor showers of the year, in one of the most active years, outbursts can lead to over 200 meteors per hour. But do not expect to see that many this year. There will be a waxing crescent moon about half illuminated, which will make part of the night not ideal for spotting any meteors with so much light pollution.
The Perseid meteor shower is also known for fireballs, larger explosions of color and light caused by larger comet fragments entering Earth's atmosphere.
When does it peak?
The Perseid meteor shower lasts from late July through the end of August but will peak on the night of Sunday, August 11, through the morning of Monday, August 12. That night, the moon will be visible in the sky for the first half of the night in the southwest sky. The moon will set around 12:03 a.m. on Monday the 12th. After that, the dark night sky will be ideal for spotting meteors.
How many could we see?
A couple of dozen per hour and up to 100 per hour will be possible, but only if you have ideal viewing conditions, with clear skies and no light pollution.
How to watch:
Early Monday morning, get away from city lights and any light pollution. If you live in the city, you'll want to travel a distance in the car somewhere more remote to avoid the city lights. Once you find your spot, give your eyes 15 to 30 minutes to adjust. Then, look up!
The meteors will originate in the north sky. The radiant point is the constellation Perseus. This will be just below the constellation Cassiopeia.
As of Thursday, the cloud cover forecast looks promising. We expect a mostly clear to partly cloudy sky Sunday night across north Georgia and metro Atlanta. This will give most at least an opportunity to see a few meteors in the sky.
