Updated for 2011
Every year in early August, we can observe the Perseid meteor shower (“the Perseids”) and it’s a fascinating sky event. This year 2011, the Perseid peak activity is expected on Saturday August 13th 2011.
Unfortunately, there is a full Moon on the same day and this will make observing difficult (but not impossible, so don’t give in until next year!)
Here’s a beginners’ guide to the Perseid meteor shower and how best to enjoy it. (Perhaps, impress your friends with these astronomy questions and answers!)
What are the Perseids and what is a meteor?
Every year in August, the Earth passes through rock and dust fragments left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle, last time it came near the Sun. As these small particles collide with the Earth’s atmosphere, they burn-up, often creating a startling streak of light across the sky.
You can easily observe this and it can be a wonderous spectacle.
Why is it called the Perseid meteor shower?
The term “Perseid”, refers to the star constellation of Perseus.
View of Perseid meteor radiant point, above NE horizon after midnight
The meteors actually have nothing to do with the stars we see from Earth, as being part of Perseus. It just appears as though the meteors originate from Perseus.
In fact, the rock fragments are close to the Earth – that’s why they burn in our atmosphere.
They are very close, just a few hundred miles – not many, many light years distant like the stars.
But, if you trace-back the bright trails of meteors we see, they appear to originate from the stars of Perseus.
When can you see them?
The Perseid meteor shower actually starts in late July and runs to late August. However, the best time to view is around the peak.
It’s not precise, but the 2011 peak is expected on August 13th.
The predicted peak hours are during the European night and morning (01.00 – 13.00 GMT). So if you are in the US, the peak may be better placed in your night, whereas for those in Asia and the East, the predicted peak will be during daytime, so you should observe the night before and after.
But having said that, there is always uncertainty in these meteor shower predictions, so it may be very worthwhile to observe during the hours of darkness and indeed, other nights, before and after the expected peak.
This year the Moon will be a problem, as mentioned already. Full Moon and meteor observing, are not best friends.
What equipment do you need to observe the meteor shower?
The good news is none! Just use your eyes.
It will help your observation if you give your eyes some time (say 15 minutes), to become adapted to the darkness.
Binoculars may also help, but on the other hand, they may restrict your view to a small part of the sky.
The meteors originate in the region of Perseus, but they may appear in view just about anywhere in the sky. Although, if you were to track-back their trails, you would get to Perseus.
Can they be measured, at all?
Yes. Keen astronomers count how many appear in a fixed period of time, in a certain area of the sky. This is expressed as a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR).
We may expect around 100 streaks of meteor light across the sky per hour, at or near the shower peak.
Do please look-up and be alert for Perseid meteors, on Saturday 13th August during hours of darkness and in the nights before and after.
Best of observing luck!
My daughter and I laid in a hammock in our backyard for almost 2 hours in Central Florida. I saw the first one, and then the two of us saw 4 more. It was awesome! We live in the city so it was pretty bright, but what we saw was really cool!
Have been out Wednesday (11th) and Thursday (12th) on Gulf Island on west coast Canada (virtually no light pollution). Wednesday 10:45 ish was the best….saw large flaming red ball and tail in the southwest sky, lasted approx. 3 sec….totally awesome. The meteor showers are a first for my twelve year old….the large flaming red ball was the largest in my 56 years of gazing.
Hi there, I believe that bright star is jupiter, could be wrong though.
Jake you are absolutely right!
Really? I was wondering what that was… I just kept looking at it cause it was so beautiful. Portland Metro Area, Washington had clear perfect skys! I loved it even though I did see the big show, I saw about 20 meteors.
drove out a bit to stop the glare from london diluting the sight ..stopped at eynsford..saw about 20 in 30 mins from approx 11pm…my daughter was very impressed she got to make all those wishes
At 1am in the uk the bright ‘star’ your seeing is jupiter, Venus is too close to the sun to be seen that late at night. I’m in the cote d’azur about to travel to monaco on a boat over night, should be pitch black, no light pollution! Hoping to see lots!
I watched from my roof window for 20 minutes last night 10.55 – 11.15 and saw 5! They were unlike stars in that they were bright white & sped across the sky before disappearing. Tonight I will try to go out into the garden, if it is clear again, in order to have a wider stretch of sky.
Here in Maidenhead, England, I saw 14 meteors last night. mostly between 12.45 and 01.30 BST, but in two cases they were heading towards from Perseus rather away from it. I don’t mean that they were slightly off in their directions – few of the ones I saw could be said to be radiating outwards from a point in or near Perseus – those two were definitely heading in the opposite direction, towards the part of the sky occupied by Perseus. Any explanations?
Strangely, I saw what looked like a bright flash in the sky and put it down to a possible meteor. Then I saw another.
This flash, tracked across the sky S to N a degree of two under Cassiopeia and flashed at a rate of every 13 seconds.
Not sure what it was, presumably a rotating satellite, but back to your comment, I saw 2 streaks that came from the direction around Andromeda towards Perseus.
I live in brownsville oregon and went outside around 4am saw a few. will be out again this eve perhaps around 3am. how fun is this!!
We watched in essex, saw quite a few.. some very bright.. Shame we had a little cloud lastnight, lets hope for a clear night tonight.
I noticed a very bright star lastnight too sarah.. I think you could be right.. Awesome viewing.
Will have my telescope out tonight, to take a closer look.
Watched in bristol last night at 11pm, the sky just cleared at 10.30. It took about 10mins for my eyes to get used to the dark, then seen about 8-10 shooting stars over the course of about 20 minutes, amazing… I even seen 2 at once, look north tonight if it is clear you cannot miss them, try and find a darkish area with no lights, even better, can’t wait for tonight to show my wife again.. it reminded me of ET!.
Northern Ireland:
Seen at least 100 from 11pm to 4am, most was 3 in a row going north, but usually in bursts of 2 at a time, why is this?
Seen some pretty big ones that had tails of what looked like smoke or maybe the light beam? Seemed very close to earth.
Where on earth was the moon?
Tell me on kevsproule@msn.con
Thanks!
What’s the expected starting time in Glasgow or is it simply look when it’s dark enough??
Lying in bed gazing out of the window in a village in Northampton at about 11:30pm and I saw a very bright one streak across the sky, so I got up and dressed walked out into the field and saw about 20 in half an hour.
Lets hope todays cloud blows over for tonight.
I’m in the West Mids of England and we had a lot of cloud cover, but I did see one amazing one that seemed to glow pink before it vanished, and had quite an impressive tail which I shouted my husband to come look at as he had nipped inside for a drink LOL.
watched in devon it was good cant wait till tonite to see more i hope
Just came back in from a point East of Seattle, away from the city. Laying in the back of our truck bed we saw dozens between 1am and 2am PST. It was a much better show than the Northern Lights a week ago, although it is more about the adventure for me and the kids!
saw a fair few from our dark carpark in Cambs around 10pm. 3 very bright across the sky
Hoping for more tonight
i was out there for about 1 hour from 1230am to now, and saw a bunch and got a couple good ones that lasted a good long time they stopped coming for the past 10 mins so i gave up
watched in bolton north west of uk last night when the clouds finaly broke we saw a few meteors, was amazing glad i went out for it.
Went outside at 3:00 a.m. to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower. Activity appeared sparse compared to other years. However, I did see one very bright meteor streak across the sky from east to west.
The best meteor shower that I have experienced was the year I lay on my back on a picnic table on Prince Edward Island.
Ontario, Canada:
Went outside at 3:00 a.m. to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower. Activity appeared sparse compared to other years. However, I did see one very bright meteor streak across the sky from east to west.
The best meteor shower that I have experienced was the year I lay on my back on a picnic table on Prince Edward Island.
i havent seen it yet… apparently soon tho, in the next hour i should be able to see them…
I live in the bay area, pleasanton, and i cant see any meteors, i see many stars but no meteors, does anyone know why?
saw a ton here in IN, of the US. We are out in the country and even got to see the tails on some of the meteors
Here in Castle Rock Wa, seen 5 or 6 and it is 10:53 PM were are getting single streaks. Castle rock has very few lights My parents have a farm, but over the years, the more people that have moved in to Longview, WA the more light polluted it becomes.
I remember when I was a kid we could lay out in the front yard at my parents house and watch the stars.
I hear on very rare occasions they sometimes make impact.Not sure to believe or not to believe that one
can i see it from canada
I’ve never seen it , hopefully i can ! There’s like a couple clear clouds out here . Stay somewhere darkker i guess , with not so many lights.
its cloudy in pa, i cant see anything. its almost 2am and still cloudy, the whole sky!
we are watching in bradford mass and we feel pretty dumb. its mostly cloudy, have’nt seen anything yet except this really bright star which if google is right its Venus. its 1am were gonna stick it out !
I’m so happy I live in a rural community and have the opportunity to see this.
i live in san bernardino california…wat time will be best to view the meteor shower??
Watching from Portland, Maine, US.
NOTHING yet…. 10:42 PM local.
I am in mid michigan and am planning on viewing the shower in the late evening and early morning. Can someone please let me know what the best direction to view it from. Thanks!
A few red flashes here in sutton in ashfield (nottinghamshire/east midlands) quite pretty but cloud cover is getting in the way a bit but I’ve seen a few go by been watching for ages which I could see more from my loft conversion
Overall gr8 night tonight…clouds came and went..believe it or not..seen 18 meteor’s and counting. @Shane J: don’t loose hope, if London ()UB8) can spot them…you have hope!!
Just saw a nice close one wizz past my house and left a long trail. It was at about 1:15 GMT +0 (UK) never seen them before so deffo something i was happy to see!
I think the meteor shower is great.my daughter and i were just watching it and she got hit in her big ass with one.i saved it. her but is soar.
Weather conditions are perfect. We have a few clouds but they won’t be any trouble. Its humid though and may make the sky a bit red. Its also warm and will be watching from the window. I swear I saw a meteor a few nights ago.
wow! i have seen the meteor shower around 2-3am at the East in Philippines… i’m at the terrace of our house staring up the skies & enjoying the view…
Haven’t seen anything from Cardiff, I can see the stars clearly enough but no meteors 1.07.
have seen about 20 and plenty of flashes
We just saw 6 in our back garden in Cumbria.
haii..i live in redditch england.what is the best time to watch the meteor shower
Redditch England
Been watching the meteors from about 11pm onwards some great viewings here in the Midlands
Just took the kids out to the middle of nowhere in Shropshire. Must of seen at least 35 meteors some really bright over the period of about an hour between 11.15 and 12.15. What a kool night !
I’ve just been out on the roof of the architecture building at my university and happily saw a few meteors speeding by.
I’ve seen them by accident many times years ago but it’s crap. For a start it’s to bright in most places unless your in the middle of a massive field. I live in hull and the sky here is far from black. It’s blue. Only star I can see is the north star so no point me looking cause cannot see any other stars. And yes it’s 12:20am now and the sky is dark blue and it’s bright. I’d of thought a clear winters night would be best to view. Maybe not lol. From hull city it’s hard enough to see the moon sometimes lol.
Wonderful show here in Gloucestershire, England, been watching since 11.00pm lots of green tailed ones as well:-)
Seeing some in Iowa at 10:00 CDT
I hate you so much, I was outside for 2 hours and all i saw was 7 small fragments.
I live in LA county, and I could see them last night.
It was kinda weird how clear the sky was, actually. Seeing stars isn’t something I’m used to.
Watching it now at peak point down south and its amazing MASSIVE cluster just sped by and have a fireball east quite bright aswell
Will I be able to view the shower tonight in my area? I live in southern california, in an area with not a lot of light pollution. I know the best viewing time would be after midnight. Hopefully we get the opportunity to see this awesome event!!!
Ann
Why aren’t you outside already? This is the best time tonight…
seen at least ten meteors tonight in northern ireland , took the kids into the country ,complete darkness they loved it!!! well so did my hubby and I (if truth be told) very exciting….we were all so excited we forgot to wish!!