Perseid Meteor

Friday through early Saturday, this year’s cosmic fireworks will be somewhat dampened by the glare of a full moon. But the Perseids can still offer a crowd-pleasing sight for many people worldwide.  Photographer Marco Verstraaten

Perseid Meteor

Perseid Meteor

The Perseids are almost always a really good show, with usually on average about 50 to 60 meteors an hour during the peak.

-First, you don’t need a telescope or binoculars or any high tech equipment. You just need your own eyes and glasses if you wear them.

-It’s a good idea to be away from bright lights and if possible have a red light torch or red flashlight, but most importantly try to get your eyes adapted to the dark.

-Bright light will instantaneously ruin dark adaption so shining flashlights into faces is a big no-no and looking directly at the Moon isn’t going to help either. Position yourself so you don’t get the Moon in your view.

Perseid Meteor

The Perseids don’t rain down out of the sky; they appear every few minutes and this year, you may only see the rarer bright ones and very bright fireballs due to the full Moon that will be up, and the glare it will unfortunately provide. But if you can get in a good position to avoid the glare, sit back and wait to see some meteors. This is totally worth the wait, but you need to be comfortable or you will give up, go indoors and not see any.

Perseid Meteor

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