This year's Perseid meteor shower is expected to reach its peak tonight — but the moon might outshine the shooting stars.
"Because the moon is kind of in the way, that is a drawback," Lara Eakins, senior program coordinator at the Department of Astronomy at UT Austin, said. "But what's kind of cool is that the planet Saturn is kind of near the moon. So if you're out with a telescope or binoculars, you can also look at Saturn while you're looking for meteors."
The best time to catch the shower will be after midnight into early Wednesday, she said. To get a glimpse, she suggested people camp outside the city or look up from their backyards if it's dark enough. She said people should avoid city parks because of their proximity to lights and trees that may obstruct the view. Give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness.
The Perseids started on July 17 and will be visible until Aug. 23. Forty to 50 meteors can be seen in an hour when the shower is most active, NASA said. The moon might make them harder to see, however. The agency estimates viewers will see between 10 and 20 per hour during the peak this summer.
Meteor showers are caused by comets traveling through the solar system and leaving behind a path of dust and sand. When the Earth intersects that dirt path, it causes streaks of light and color across the sky.
The Earth crosses through the debris path from the comet Swift-Tuttle to create the Perseid meteor shower at roughly the same time every year.
"There are some comets that come through a lot more frequently, so they sort of replenish that dust path," Eakins said. "Sometimes they come through and leave different debris paths. So you might intersect the debris from one comet in like two different times a year, causing two different showers."
