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The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks tonight! Will clouds ruin the show for NEO?

Known as the best meteor shower of the year, The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks Sunday night and into early Monday.

How To Watch The Perseid Meteor Shower This Month

By: Katie McGraw

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One of the best meteor showers of the year peaks on Sunday and Monday, giving stargazers a great opportunity to view the yearly event. The meteors are produced by the leftovers of the 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet. The comet, which last passed through the inner solar system in 1992, left a trail of rock and dust, which burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The Perseids are a fan favorite due to the sheer number of meteors you can see every hour and the fact the peak always falls during the summer months. This year, onlookers can see up to 50-75
meteors per hour.

When and where to look:

While the moon will be 50% illuminated tonight, it will set around 11:30 p.m. That means the best chance to see meteors is from midnight until dawn. From darker viewing locations, meteor counts of 50 to 75 per hour are typical at the peak.

You will want to get away from city lights that can cause light pollution. All you have to do is find yourself a safe, dark spot to lie down with your feet pointing roughly toward the northeast and look straight up. Try to take in as much of the sky as you can in your view, as meteors can appear all over. You don’t need any equipment to see them, but you will need to give your eyes around half an hour to adjust to the dark. Avoid looking at your cell phone since that can ruin your night vision, too!

Conditions for viewing: The weather has been very active over the last week, with many still without power! Thankfully, our weather on Sunday and Monday will feature a mixture of sun and clouds, breezy winds, and isolated lake-effect rain showers. Scattered clouds & stray showers will continue to be possible tonight across all of NEO, but I do not think it will ruin the show. It will be a little chilly, though. Temps look to fall into the low 50s inland and upper 50s to low 60s along the lakeshore. Happy meteor hunting!