What exactly is the Perseid Meteor Shower

Every summer, we have the pleasure of witnessing the Perseid Meteor Shower, often referred to as just 'the Perseids'. The Perseids are special among meteor showers as it is said to be the best meteor shower of they year. The image below shows the Perseid Meteor Shower as captured by NASA in 2009.

Most meteor showers are caused by the same thing, comets. As comets periodically pass by the sun, they leave behind tails of debris. These debris tails are what we see when a comet passes by earth. Every year, the Earth's orbit passes through this debris field. When this happens, tons of little bits of debris get pulled down to Earth. As this happens, the debris burns up in the atmosphere and becomes a shooting star. In the case of the Perseids, the debris comes from the Swift-Tuttle comet which passes by Earth once every 133 years.

The Perseids normally occur during the months of July and August. This year, they will peak on August 12th and 13th and can best be seen between the hours of midnight and 5AM. During the peak of the meteor shower, we could see as many as 90 shooting stars per hour! These can usually be seen by the naked eye, but it greatly depends many factors. Mainly, light pollution. Check out a light pollution map online to find an area with dark skies near you for the best chance to see the meteors.

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