Perseid Meteor Shower Peak [VIDEO]: How and Where to Watch Live August 11 & 12
One of nature's most spectacular light shows, the Perseid meteor shower, is happening this weekend. It will peak Sunday night, Aug. 12, into the dawn of Monday morning.
At the peak of the shower, onlookers can expect to see 100 meteors an hour. The collection of shooting stars is projected to be visible from Aug. 11 - 13 and can easily be seen from Earth without any technological assistance.
The best way to see the Perseids is to find a dark patch of sky, lie down and look up. For those living in big cities like New York or Los Angeles, it is best to go one hour out of town to where there is less light pollution.
The more sky that is visible, the more likely it is for a person to take in the extent of the shower. The more sky that is visible, the more likely the meteors can be seen.
The shower will be most visible after midnight, locally, since it is halfway between dusk and dawn. This means that the stars will be more visible since the Earth is in the midst of spinning its axis towards the Sun.
Taking pictures and video of the meteors is easy since they are visible without any type of expensive equipment. Binoculars and telescopes are actually not encouraged since they only allow the person to examine one part of the sky.
Watch this time-lapse footage of the Perseid Meteor Shower from 2012:
