Meteor shower visible next two nights
You will have to stay up very late, but the annual Perseid Meteor Shower will be at peak activity and viewing over the next few nights. For the 2020 edition, timing the waning crescent moon will be important to catch a glimpse.
The wee morning hours of August 12 and 13 are expected to offer the most darkness. Moonrise will occur at 12:37am and 1:14am respectively on those dates, so aim to view around midnight. However, as long as moonlight does not interfere too much, meteors are actually most frequent right up to dawn.
Meteors will still be visible earlier, but activity tends to increase into the overnight hours. Those early evening hours, though, are the best time to see an "earthgrazer" which is a long-lived meteor that travels horizontally across the sky.
The Perseid Meteor Shower happens every year at about this time as the orbit of Earth crosses into the path of Comet Swift-Tuttle. Dusty debris left behind from the comet crashes into Earth's atmopshere, lightning up the dark sky.
Expert photographers: we want your pictures (horizontal and focused please)! If you see any of the Perseid Meteor Shower and manage to snap a shot, send it to @WBRZweather on Twitter or email firstname.lastname@example.org so we can share it on the air!
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