Here’s How You Can Check Out Tonight’s Perseid Meteor Shower
While we may enjoy consulting the stars for planning our horoscope-friendly honeymoons, zodiac-abiding vintage fashion and even galaxy-themed desserts, there’s a very different and wildly cool reason to check out tonight’s sky. The yearly Perseid Meteor Shower is passing by our lucky planet tonight and, this time around, it will be even more amazing than you can imagine.
Tonight’s Perseids meteor shower is not only super-cool because it’s, well, a freakin’ meteor shower, but this particular event will include an impressive amount of “fireballs” (which are the biggest, brighter burners) and something called an outburst, the first to happen since 2009. That means that, instead of the usual 100 meteors flying by every hour, we’re likely to see a whopping 160 to 200 meteors every hour. Holy wow!
Speeding by at an incredible 132,000 mph, you’ll have to keep your eyes open to catch a peek of these meteors.
If you’re hoping to see the celestial show, tonight will be the best time to do so, although tomorrow through the weekend will also give you opportunities to get a glimpse at this wonder.
If you’re worried you won’t be able to see anything because you live in a city, we’re assured that this year’s shower will be so strong and bright, that even light-pollution won’t be able to blot out all of these comet-like space-balls. If you’re still absolutely sure you won’t be able to spot anything (or just don’t feel like hanging outside all night), Slooh will be running a Perseid Meteor Shower 2016 livestream for you to enjoy in the comfort of your own home.
If you’re willing to camp out for a look at this annual event, head to the darkest spot in your neighborhood and, while you may want to bring a comfy blanket to lay down on to watch the sky above, you should leave the telescope and binoculars behind — these things might make it harder to scan the entire sky, which is what will give you the best chance of spotting the speedy stellar bodies.
Since the best time to watch the meteor shower is between midnight and dawn (with 2am being the peak hour), here’s a video of last year’s show, if you’re one of the many who just can’t stay up that late on a weeknight.
Will you be staying up (or trying to stay up) to watch this year’s Perseid meteor shower? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(h/t Gizmodo; photos via Getty)
