The annual Perseid meteor shower is going to be spectacular this year . NASA allege that a special " flare-up " will take place during the peak of the meteor exhibitioner , the night of August 11 into the next daytime . The expectation is that the outburst will boast up to200 meteors per hour , twice the normal pace , accord to NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke . It ’s the first gush of the Perseid meteor rain shower since 2009 .
The cascade occur because the Earth ’s electron orbit intersects with the wake of the ancient Swift - Tuttle comet . The outburst is the result of the Earth ’s orbit intersecting the wake closer to the real comet than normal ( itself the consequence of Jupiter ’s gravitative pull ) , meaning that there ’s a lot more junk to tug the satellite through . That debris — bid Perseids because they come out to be falling from the constellation Perseus — is traveling at 132,000 mile per hour and disintegrates in brilliant flashes of light as it enters Earth ’s atmosphere .
“ Here ’s something to reckon about , " said Cooke , convey a college freshman who just took their first class on space . " The meteors you ’ll see this class are from comet flybys that pass off hundreds if not thousands of yr ago . And they ’ve traveled 1000000000000 of nautical mile before their kamikaze run into Earth ’s atmosphere . ”
NASA / JPL
NASA will livestream the meteor showerfor those of you who fear the away world or live in an area with too much light pollution . The stream will set out at 10 pm ET on August 11 and August 12 .
Pro tip : lie on the earth and looking straight up will make you palpate like you ’re in a come - of - age cinema , but it ’s in reality not the best way to keep an eye on a meteoroid shower . " Unfortunately the column of air immediately above you is the thinnest gash of atmosphere , " write Robert Lunsford at theAmerican Meteor Society blog , " therefore create the least act of meteors . You are unspoiled off centering your field of view at around one - half the mode up in the sky , high enough to fend off anything that may forget your view . "
You ’ll be the coolest soul at your late - dark hang out with that knowledge , and taking booster to consider astronomic phenomenon is all about being the coolest person in township .
