Perseid meteor shower is active starting August; When will it peak and how to spot it?

Perseid meteor shower, which is best annual meteor shower, has turned active and will peak later this month. According to NASA, Perseids start around July 15 every year but get significantly active starting in August and peak around day 13th of this month. This year, meteor shower is expected to peak between August 12 and August 13 and one can spot as many as 60 to 100 meteors in an hour that cruise through sky at a speed of 59 km per second. 

Origin of Perseid meteors

NASA says that Perseid meteors are leftovers of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Events like meteor shower occur when an asteroid or a hurtling comet leaves behind debris in Earth’s orbit. When our planet passes through this debris, y interact with its atmosphere leaving behind streaks of fiery light in different colours.

As for Perseids, se meteors were first confirmed to belong to  109P/Swift-Tuttle by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1865. According to NASA, Swift-Tuttle takes 133 years to complete one orbit around Sun and last visited inner solar system in 1992. Discovered in 1862 by astronomers Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle, this comet is estimated to be approximately 26 kilometres across, making it much bigger than asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs from Earth. 

How and when to spot Perseid meteor shower?

Perseid meteor shower is best viewed in Norrn Hemisphere during pre-dawn hours, although cosmic show often also begins as early as 10 pm. You can also look for Perseus constellation in sky for a reference point as this is area where Perseid meteor shower emerges from. 

To make sure you don't miss fiery meteors, make sure to find a dark spot free from light pollution caused by artificial lighting. You can also he out for stargazing about 30 minutes before event begins to let your eyes just to dark sky.  As mentioned above, this meteor shower, which is considered best of year, began on July 14 and will continue till September 1.