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The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best shooting star displays of the year and it's currently active. The Perseid meteor shower (also known as the Perseids) is active every year from mid-July to late August. This year the shower will peak around the night of Aug. 12 and before dawn on Aug.13, 2023, according to the science site Royal Museums Greenwich. 2023 will be a good year for the Perseids as the moon will only be 10% illuminated. The Perseids are caused by Earth passing through debris — bits of ice and rock — left behind by Comet...

It’s August, and that means we will have  ☆*¨`*☆StArrY, StArrY NiGhƮs☆*¨`*☆So grab your dog and your camera…and head out to capture some magnificent images under the night sky. The Perseids Meteor shower is at its peak tonight.Photo by Andrew RhodesEnjoy it while you can.Posted from: MOTUS A.D.

Set your alarm clocks. The Perseid meteor shower, the annual celestial lightshow that Space.com com calls the most widely observed and dependable meteor display of the year, will peak tonight and early tomorrow morning. NASA says this year's show promises to be more spectacular than usual. "If you see one meteor shower this year, make it August's Perseids or December's Geminids," according to the space agency. "The Perseids feature fast and bright meteors that frequently leave trains, and in 2015 there will be no moonlight to upstage the shower." And Jupiter's positioning this year will make for even better viewing,...

This year’s shower is special in another way. According to Sky and Telescope magazine, meteor stream modeler Jeremie Vaubaillon predicts a bump in the number of Perseids around 1:39 p.m. (18:39 UT) as Earth encounters a debris trail shed by the Comet Swift-Tuttle back in 1862. The time favors observers in Asia where the sky will be dark. It should be interesting to see if the prediction holds. How To Watch Already the shower’s active. Go out any night through about the 15th and you’ll see at least at least a handful of Perseids an hour. At nightfall on the...

Look for the 2013 Perseid meteor shower to be at its prolific best from late late August 11 until dawn August 12! Great times to watch: after midnight and before dawn on August 11, 12 or 13. We give the nod to Monday, August 12 – in the hours between midnight and dawn. But any of these mornings should be fine for watching this year’s Perseid shower. At dusk and early evening on August 11, the waxing crescent moon shines between the planet Venus and the star Spica. The planet Saturn is found above Spica. The Perseids are a summertime...

Stargazers, get thee to the closest open space you can find! Astronomers say tonight may be the best time to view the Perseid meteor shower — one of the most spectacular (and reliable) of the annual meteor showers. The shower, which is visible across the nation, is not expected to peak until Saturday night. But the peak coincides with a full moon, meaning that night's dazzling display of tiny streaks of light shooting across the sky — sometimes as fast as 60 to 120 meteor streaks per hour — won't be so dazzling. The light of the moon will get...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Stargazers who cast their eyes skyward Thursday should enjoy two-for-one celestial treats. A heavenly threesome will appear after dusk, when a trio of planets glides above a fragile crescent moon. Later, the fabled Perseid meteor shower will adorn the night with up to 50 shooting stars an hour. "This is the astronomy night of the summer," said Arnold Pearlstein, who writes an astronomy column for the Sun Sentinel and teaches science for Miami-Dade schools. "The Perseid is one of the top showers of the year." The show begins at twilight, with the glow of the setting...

Update Aug. 12, 4:15 p.m. ET: The International Meteor Organization reports that hourly rate for Perseid meteors has climbed from the low 20s Tuesday into the 30s on Wednesday and now into the 40s. This represents the number of meteors observable per under perfectly dark skies. While the typical person's actual observation will be lower, the rising rate — fully expected — indicates the peak tonight and Friday morning will indeed be worth viewing, as predicted. — RRB The annual Perseid meteor shower is already putting on an excellent show, and the celestial fireworks have yet to peak. The main...

Showers are expected Thursday, but not the wet kind that have plagued Seattle all summer. The Perseid meteor shower will be visible Thursday night, and viewing conditions should be optimal. The meteor shower appears every year as the Earth enters a band of dust that trails the comet Swift-Tuttle. It's one of of the more reliable night-sky events for stargazers in Seattle, and this year's show could be easier to watch because of clear skies and limited moonlight.

Every August, just when many people go vacationing in the country where skies are dark, the best-known meteor shower — the Perseid meteor shower — makes its appearance. The "shooting stars" promise to deliver an excellent show this year to anyone with clear and dark skies away from urban and suburban lights. The best time to watch for meteors will be from the late-night hours of Wednesday, Aug, 11 on through the predawn hours of Aug. 13 – two full nights and early mornings. Patient skywatchers with good conditions could see up to 60 shooting stars an hour or more....

<p>Skygazers are getting ready to watch the annual Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on Wednesday.</p> <p>The Perseid shower occurs when the Earth passes through a stream of dusty debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle.</p> <p>As this cometary "grit" strikes our atmosphere, it burns up, often creating streaks of light across the sky.</p>

METEOR UPDATE: Perseid meteors are now hitting Earth's upper atmosphere with a speed of 58 to 60 km/s, about 130,000 mph. That's the result of triangulation by a dual-station meteor monitoring system operated by NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. Last night the system detected five fireballs that provided the data for this speed estimate... EARLY PERSEIDS: The Perseid meteor shower is slowly intensifying as Earth plunges deeper in Comet Swift-Tuttle's debris stream. On August 4th, amateur astronomer Thomas Ashcraft caught an early arrival using an all-sky camera at his observatory near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Click on the image to play...

LOS ANGELES – Summer's annual meteor shower promises to put on a dazzling show when it peaks this weekend – provided you're far from city lights. With no moon in sight to interfere with the Perseid meteor shower, skygazers can expect to spot streaking fireballs late Sunday into dawn Monday regardless of time zone. Astronomers estimate as many as 60 meteors per hour could flit across the sky at the shower's peak. This year's sky show comes with an added bonus: Mars will be visible as a bright red dot in the northeastern sky. “We have front-row seats this year,”...

Every August, when many people go vacationing in the country where skies are dark, the best-known meteor shower makes its appearance -- the Perseids. In 2005, the Perseids are expected to reach their maximum on August 12. Peak activity is unfortunately predicted for the daylight hours across North America. Sky watchers are thus encouraged to watch during the predawn hours of Friday, August 12 and again during the early morning hours of Saturday.

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2004 August 20 Raining Perseids Credit & Copyright: Fred Bruenjes Explanation: Comet dust rained down on planet Earth last week, streaking through dark skies in the annual Perseid meteor shower. So, while enjoying the anticipated space weather, astronomer Fred Bruenjes recorded a series of many 30 second long exposures spanning about six hours on the night of August 11/12 using a wide angle lens. Combining those frames which...

Aug. 11: The Perseid meteor shower should be at its peak late tonight. The best time to watch is from about 11 p.m. until the first light of dawn Thursday morning. Try to find yourself a dark spot with an open view of the sky. You may see a brief Perseid "shooting star" as often as once every minute or two. The shower is somewhat active for many nights before and after its date of maximum. This year could be especially interesting for the Perseids. Aug. 12: During dawn (perhaps after a night of Perseid watching!), look for the waning...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2004 August 11 A Perseid Meteor Credit & Copyright: Wally Pacholka (Astropics) Explanation: The ongoing Perseid Meteor Shower should be at its strongest tonight and tomorrow night. Although meteors should be visible all night long, the best time to watch will be between 2:00 AM and dawn each night. In dark, moonless, predawn skies you may see dozens of meteors per hour. Sky enthusiasts in Europe and Asia...

   PERSEID METEORS: The Perseid meteor shower is underway. Every hour, 10 or so meteors are streaking from the constellation Perseus, and that number will increase 3- to 5-fold on Wednesday night, August 11th, when the shower peaks. [More]Got clouds? Try listening to the Perseids: audio: Naval Space Surveillance Radar (Kickapoo, Texas)audio: 67 MHz meteor radar (Roswell, New Mexico) When a Perseid flies over one of these meteor radars, they record a ghostly ping. Credit: Live audio provided by engineer Stan Nelson.

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 August 23 Island Universe, Cosmic Sand Credit & Copyright: Rick Scott Explanation: On August 13, while counting Perseid meteors under dark, early morning Arizona skies, Rick Scott set out to photograph their fleeting but fiery trails. The equipment he used included a telephoto lens and fast color film. After 21 pictures he'd caught only two meteors, but luckily this was one of them. Tracking the sky, his...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 August 16 Rainbow Perseid Credit & Copyright: Dirk Obudzinski Explanation: While meteors do show colors, the colors aren't always seen with the unaided eye. Still, high speed color film recorded this rainbow-like trail as a meteor streaked through the early morning sky on August 13 above Sedona, Arizona, USA. Part of the annual Perseid meteor shower, this bit of dust from the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle entered...