Community Corner

Where and How to Watch the Perseid Meteor Shower

Stargazers should be able to see about 60 "shooting stars" per hour during the 2013 Perseid Meteor Shower.

Written by Beatrice Karnes and David Gurliacci

The Perseid meteor shower is already underway and will continue through Aug. 24. The peak viewing will be Aug. 11-12. Stargazers could see upward of 60 meteorites flash before them per hour.

According to Astronomy.com, the Perseid meteor shower has some added bonuses this year: It will occur on a night when the moon is in its waning crescent phase, which means the moonlight will interfere only slightly with your view of the falling stars.

Popular Stories

"The meteors don’t really start to pick up steam until after midnight, and usually don’t bombard the sky most abundantly until the wee hours before dawn," writes Bruce McLure on the EarthSky website. McLure doesn't suggest looking at any particular part of the sky -- just look up, he suggests, perhaps while reclining on a blanket or lounge chair.

Find out what's happening in Wantagh-Seafordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

And you don't have to wait until the night of Aug. 11-12, according to McLure. That and the night of Aug. 12-13 are only the peak evenings, he says -- the stars will be falling this week, as well.

You don't even need a telescope. Just spread out a blanket, perhaps a late-night picnic, lay back and enjoy!  

Find out what's happening in Wantagh-Seafordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Perseid Meteor Trivia:

  • Mankind has looked up at the Perseids for nearly 2,000 years.
  • The Perseids are remnants of the Swift-Tuttle comet, which orbits the sun every 133 years.
  • These bits of comet "ice and dust" are more than 1,000 years old.
  • These meteors travel 37 miles per second.
  • The Perseids can be seen all over the sky, but the best viewing opportunities will be across the northern hemisphere.
  • Those with sharp eyes will see that the meteors radiate from the direction of the constellation Perseus, which forms an inverted "Y" shape and is in the northeast.
  • Some of the meteorites are as small as a grain of sand, but they have the kinetic energy of a nuclear bomb.
  • If you see a very slow, bright object sailing across the sky, it's either a satellite or the space station.

Where and how to view:

  • The best time to view will be Aug. 11 and 12.
  • Avoid city lights. The further you get from them, the better your view will be. 
  • Think wide open spaces so you can have an expansive view of the sky, such as parks, fields and conservation lands.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here