The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak this weekend
The American Meteorological Society says the best time to see these fast streaks of light is after midnight, preferably near dawn.
Those places where the sky is clear and free of light pollution may be lucky enough to see up to one meteor per minute.
The meteors should be easy to see, as there would only be a small sliver of the moon to encounter in the night sky.
The Perseids, one of the biggest meteor showers of the year, are the result of Earth colliding with dusty debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle, which completes an orbit around the sun every 133 years. His last appearance was in 1992.
You don’t need a telescope or binoculars to see meteors burning up in the atmosphere, and they can appear anywhere in the sky.
This annual light show usually begins in mid-July and ends in early September. It takes its name from the constellation Perseus, where the cometary debris stream appears to be created when the Earth moves in the comet’s path.
This debris consists mostly of small meteorites or pieces of rock or iron orbiting the sun. When they hit Earth’s atmosphere and create short flashes of light, they are called meteors. The piece that managed to reach Earth is a meteorite.
Meteors can usually be seen 80 to 120 kilometers above the Earth. When turned on, they typically travel at up to 72 kilometers per second, or about 26,000 kilometers per hour.
“Watching meteors is like watching beautiful natural fireworks, and you never know when or how bright the next shot will be,” reads the American Meteorological Society website.
