Keep a close eye on the Perseid meteor shower to see a shooting star this summer as it is set to peak in early August.
The meteor shower just began two days ago on July 14 and goes through Sep. 1, but the peak is predicted to be around Aug. 11 and 12, giving stargazers several chances to see the shower.
The peak will happen with a first quarter moon this year, which sets around midnight, making 2024 a good year to view the Perseids with a dark sky.
The Perseids are able to produce 50 to 100 meteors per hour for a single observer. The falling meteors often leave a lot of light and colors behind them, and the shower is also known to produce fireballs that are visible for longer than typical meteors.
What most people call shooting stars are actually pieces of debris from asteroids, according to the National Park Service. As the Earth passes through a debris field, the meteors burn up in the atmosphere and give the appearance of a star falling from the sky.
But for the Perseids that passes by the earth every 133 years, the meteors come from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The debris field remains, however, resulting in the yearly meteor shower named for the constellation Perseus, where the meteors appear to originate from the perspective of Earth.
So, if you want to get a good look at the Perseids, you should go to an area with minimal light pollution and try to view the shower during the darker phases of the moon. The meteors are normally most visible in the hours before dawn but can be seen in the evening as well.
Source: FOX5SanDiego