Onlookers could see up to a 100 meteors an hour when the Perseid meteor shower peaks Wednesday night into the early morning hours of Thursday.
It's called the Perseid meteor shower because it radiates near the constellation Perseus. However the meteors are not formed from the constellation -- they come from a comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The comet leaves behind a debris trail that interacts with our atmosphere, creating the meteors.
Seth Mayo, the curator of science and director at the Lohman Planetarium in Daytona Beach, said the best time to see the meteors is between 2 and 4 a.m., as they enter Earth’s atmosphere at thousands of miles per hour
“They're going to streak across the entire sky,” Mayo said. “Really, the best thing to do is just lay back. Just take in the whole sky, and let your eyes adjust 5, 10 minutes if you're in a dark enough location, and just kind of wait for it to happen.”
The meteors should be easier to spot since moonlight will not affect visibility – a new moon phase that starts today will permit dark skies, making the meteors more visible.
“We have the best conditions for a meteor shower,” Mayo said. “Really the best time -- I know this is not convenient for most folks -- but like the 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. time period. That's because the Earth is kind of towards it, kind of going into it, and so we're getting a more direct hit by the meteors. Nothing to be alarmed by, nothing to worry about. These are little tiny little microscopic pieces entering the atmosphere. ... It's just a pretty show.”
