Through the future several evenings, you can witness countless parts of a comet rain down on Earth.

But really don’t be alarmed. It’s beautifully risk-free! This weekend, August 12–13, is the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, which delivers dozens of “shooting stars” for every hour. It is just one of the finest, most dependable meteor showers. And with no vivid moon to interfere with this year’s demonstrate, it is a fantastic time to go exterior and—at least figuratively—see the sky slide.

Meteor showers are 1 of the best astronomical phenomena to notice. The a few most critical matters required are a darkish internet site as considerably from metropolis lights as feasible, a vast-open sky and patience.

The necessity of darkness should be apparent: most meteors are so faint that you need to have a decently dim sky to see them. You really do not need to set up camp on a remote mountaintop or just about anything like that, but currently being much ample from glowing billboards and streetlights to be capable to see, say, magnitude 4. stars is a large support.

Meteors can surface anywhere in the sky, so you want to see as significantly of it as you can. Close by trees or buildings will block your view towards the horizon, so try out to find an open up field or even a parking great deal (if it’s not surrounded by lights!). The far more sky you see, the better.

Endurance is important, much too. Even at its peak, showers of meteors these as the Perseids will only produce perhaps a person capturing star per moment, and even 50 percent that selection is viewed as a decent display. So never count on just about anything like meteor showers in the movies, the place taking pictures stars streak throughout the sky each number of seconds. But that’s wonderful! When it usually takes a moment or two among meteors, every a person gets a little bit additional special—and shocking. Give it time, and you will be oohing and aahing with anyone else.

Also critical is when to go out. Given the celestial geometry of this year’s function, the suitable time is just after midnight—the later, the much better. The best demonstrate will happen right after about 2 to 3 A.M. EDT, but you’ll even now see some meteors even if you go out previously.

Those people are the principles. But aspects make any difference, way too. You’ll in all probability want to bring anything comfy to sit or lie down on. And even in August the evenings can be amazing, so acquiring a very hot beverage on hand normally helps (and helps make matters additional festive). Acquiring friends or family alongside is a fantastic concept, way too! Companionship helps the time move for the duration of lulls in the spectacle overhead, and it is fun when all people sees the identical little bit of cosmic fluff streaking throughout the sky. When my daughter was small, I would just take her out to observe the Perseids it was pleasurable for both of those of us, and she beloved breaking the heading-to-mattress regulations for a distinctive occasion.

So which is how you can see the Perseids. But what are you seeing?

Meteors in showers are small bits of product lose by a comet, which is in essence a assortment of rocks and ice all smushed alongside one another like a soiled snowball. Comets are inclined to have extensive, elliptical orbits all-around the sun. And if they get close to our residence star, the heat turns some of their ice instantly into a gas (a approach referred to as sublimation), which releases tiny grains of rock. If the comet’s orbit intersects that of Earth, then our world plows through this stream of material at the very same time every year.

In these streams, even the largest meteoroids—the specialized time period for the sound bits of rock—tend to be compact, only about the size of a grain of sand. But they strike Earth’s environment at the hypersonic pace of 200,000 kilometers per hour, the place they greatly compress and warmth the air they experience. The air heats up so much that it glows and rapidly vaporizes the meteoroid about 90 to 100 km higher than the ground.

The meteoroids’ large speed implies they zip throughout the sky in a 2nd or so, in some cases even less. If you’re not on the lookout up, you can quickly pass up them. When a number of persons are watching, it’s common to have some see one whilst many others pass up it by the time you convert your head to seem at whichever brought on the commotion, it’s long gone. But really do not be concerned: additional are generally on their way.

The Perseids’ dad or mum human body is Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which is about 25 km across. Its 133-calendar year orbit is very inclined to the airplane of the photo voltaic method, coming down nearly perpendicular to us in which it crosses our planet’s route all-around the sunshine. This geometry signifies the Perseids streak throughout the sky from the direction of the constellation of Perseus in the north (for this reason the shower’s identify). They surface to radiate away from a single place in the sky known as the radiant, and the larger that level is over the horizon, the greater the demonstrate. The Perseids’ radiant rises around midnight and reaches its optimum point just before dawn, which is why heading out as late as attainable is very best.

Around time, the bits of rock sloughed off the comet drift away from its orbital route, so the meteors spread out in area. That spreads them out over time, way too. The Perseids essentially can be viewed as early as mid-July and final until finally September, but they have a strong peak when Earth passes through the main of the stream. This yr that will occur all-around 8 A.M. UTC on August 13—late Saturday night time or early Sunday early morning for observers in the U.S. That must supply a better-than-usual see of the Perseids at their peak (weather conditions allowing, of system). And because the moon will be a slim crescent soaring just prior to dawn, the timing will be virtually best.

If clouds conspire to occlude your view, never fret: there are loads of web-sites the place you can look at on the internet. The Virtual Telescope Job is a favored of mine, for illustration. It features a feed from a wide-angle digital camera that can catch the capturing stars. But there are several other selections (all of which you can find through your favorite lookup motor).

For me, seeing the Perseids has grow to be an yearly astronomical custom. Possibly it can grow to be one for you and yours, much too. For any who opt for to watch this year, I wish you superior luck, good weather and dim, obvious skies!

This is an view and assessment article, and the sights expressed by the author or authors are not essentially all those of Scientific American.