Perseid Meteor Shower

10th Aug 2016
Author: Tamela Maciel

Perseid Meteor Shower

Get the hot chocolate and blankets ready – the Perseids are coming to a night sky near you. In 2016, peak activity occurs in the early hours of Friday 12 August.

Every year in August, the Earth crosses the orbital path of Comet Swift-Tuttle. Comets constantly shed dust and stones as they fly around the Sun, and it is this debris along Swift-Tuttle’s path that causes the Perseids. The debris hits Earth’s atmosphere at more than 200,000 kilometres an hour and burns up in bright, short blazes about 80 kilometres off the ground.

Comet Swift-Tuttle takes 133 years to orbit the Sun and has been shedding debris for thousands of years. The first record of the Perseids dates back to 36 AD in ancient Chinese annals.

The comet itself last approached Earth in 1992 and will next be visible from Earth in 2126. When this happens it will be a bright comet easily visible with the naked eye, but that will be for future generations to enjoy.

How to watch the Perseids

The Perseids are named after the summer constellation Perseus as this is the direction from which they appear to originate. While the meteors originate from this point they can be best seen 20-30 degrees away from Perseus, stretching across large sections of the sky.

To view the Perseids from the UK, head out after midnight on the night of 11 August and into the early hours of 12 August. This is the time of peak meteors, but also allows the Moon to set, which will be 60% full (waxing gibbous) and bright enough to obscure many of the meteors.

Look towards the northeast about 45 degrees above the horizon, but keep an eye on the rest of the sky too. The darker the location the better, so try to find a spot away from city lights.

As always in the UK, clouds can be an issue, but be patient. The Perseids are so frequent (2-3 meteors a minute) that a quick break in the clouds can be enough to reveal several bright meteors.

You can look for the Perseids on other nights as well. This year the shower runs between 17 July and 24 August.

And if the weather really doesn’t cooperate, you can watch the Perseids via NASA’s live broadcast overnight on 11-12 August and 12-13 August, beginning at 3am BST.