Author: Alan Dyer/SkySafari Premium/AmazingSky.com
While several meteor showers dot the calendar each year, by far the most popular is the Perseids. Their high level of activity and the warm summer nights combine to make this shower one of the highlights of every stargazer's calendar. This year conditions are ideal for observers in North America.
First, the date. This year the Perseids peak on the night of Saturday, August 12, with the point in Perseus where the meteor radiate from already up in the northeast (as shown above) as it gets dark. Being a Saturday night makes it perfect for a weekend retreat to a favorite dark site.
(Open this observing guide in SkySafari --> Tonight --> Featured Stories for a link that takes the sky simulator to sunset on August 12 from your location, looking northeast to Perseus where the meteors radiate from. Step ahead by the minute or hour to watch the radiant point rise through the night.)
Second, the shower is expected to peak at about 4 a.m. EDT (3 a.m. CDT, 2 a.m. MDT, or 1 a.m. PDT). So peak hour occurs during the night for observers in North America. In some years the peak happens in daylight.
Third, the Moon is near new, rising about 3 a.m. (as shown below) as a thin waning crescent. So its light won't interfere with the view, as it does other years, such as in 2022.
While the best night to look is August 12 into the dawn hours of the 13th, do plan a few hours of meteor watching on Friday, August 11 and on the night of Sunday, August 13. The nights before and after peak night can still provide a good show of meteors.
Indeed, in 2021, the night after the peak produced an unexpected outburst with as many, if not more, meteors than on the predicted best night. One prediction suggests that this year we might see an additional minor outburst on August 13 between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. EDT.
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For the best view drive away from city lights. From a dark site (such as at a star party above) you can expect to see about 50 to 60 meteors an hour, though they never arrive with the regularity of one a minute. Minutes can go by with no meteors, then a few can shoot across the sky within seconds of each other.
Most will be faint streaks of light. But the best will equal or outshine bright Jupiter which rises about midnight. Those bolides can leave lasting “smoke trains” of glowing ionized gases which can twist and move slowly over several minutes.
However, even the brightest Perseids burn up completely. None drop meteorites. In the Perseids you are seeing fragile bits of billion-year-old dust from Comet Swift-Tuttle meeting their fiery end as they slam into our atmosphere.
As shown below in a composite of images I shot in 2016 in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan, all Perseids appear to streak away from the radiant point in the constellation Perseus, in the northeast for most of the night.
To enjoy the show, just lie back in a lawn chair and look up!
To capture meteors, use a fast (f/2.8 or faster) wide-angle lens and a camera set to ISO 1600 or higher. Use an intervalometer to shoot a succession of 20- to 30-second exposures with no more than 1 or 2 seconds between frames.
Aim toward the radiant point to capture the fireworks burst effect (as above), or aim south or west for the effect of meteors raining down. While most frames won’t have any meteors, a few dozen of the night’s hundreds of frames will.
Stacking and blending those choice frames for a composite is made much easier if the camera is on a star tracker to keep the stars in the same place from frame to frame.
Good luck on Perseid night! It should be a night to remember.
