{"id":6518,"date":"2024-08-11T15:08:31","date_gmt":"2024-08-11T15:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/11\/perseid-meteor-shower-where-and-how-to-watch-up-to-100-shooting-stars-an-hour\/"},"modified":"2024-08-11T15:08:31","modified_gmt":"2024-08-11T15:08:31","slug":"perseid-meteor-shower-where-and-how-to-watch-up-to-100-shooting-stars-an-hour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/11\/perseid-meteor-shower-where-and-how-to-watch-up-to-100-shooting-stars-an-hour\/","title":{"rendered":"Perseid meteor shower: Where and how to watch up to 100 shooting stars an hour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stargazers across the UK are in for a stellar treat as the “best meteor shower of the year” is set to peak from Monday night.<\/p>\n

The spectacular Perseid shower may offer up to 100 meteors, also known as shooting stars, every hour as it peaks on the night of 12 August, going into 13 August.<\/p>\n

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The Perseid has been recurring for centuries as it is the result of Earth passing through a cloud of dust left behind Comet Swift-Tuttle.<\/p>\n

As that debris hits the atmosphere, it burns up, leaving bright trails behind it in the sky.<\/p>\n

Perseids – named after Perseus, the constellation the meteors are believed to originate from – are also known for their fireballs, with larger explosions of light and colour which can stay on for longer than the average meteor streak.<\/p>\n

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NASA has described the Perseid as the “best meteor shower of the year”.<\/p>\n

How to watch Perseid<\/strong><\/p>\n

To make the most of the glorious spectacle, experts say observers should avoid well-lit and built-up areas and try to find unobstructed views.<\/p>\n

Daniel Brown, associate professor in astronomy at Nottingham Trent University, said those wanting to get the clearest view of the shooting stars should “find a place that is dark”.<\/p>\n

He said it will take viewers up to 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness.<\/p>\n

Prof Brown said: “Bring along patience, and it is best to observe a big range of the sky as meteors will be visible all over.”<\/p>\n

For the best view, NASA recommends watching during the “dark hours” of the day, which in the UK will be from around midnight to 2am.<\/p>\n

When to watch the shower<\/strong><\/p>\n

The meteor shower peaks on the night of 12 August, going into 13 August. If skies are clear, it should be visible across the UK.<\/p>\n

Prof Brown said: “Best time this year during the main peak is the second half of the night, that is the early hours of August 13.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n

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Stargazers across the UK are in for a stellar treat as the “best meteor shower…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}