Where and when to watch Perseid meteor shower as shooting stars light up the sky

12 August 2024, 16:51

Stargazers across the country will be given the chance to see the Perseid meteor shower tonight, as hundreds of shooting stars light up the sky.

The display is expected to peak just after midnight as over 100 shooting stars per hour fill the skies.

But how much Brits will get to see will be dependent on the weather, with cloud and light levels playing a key role.

A Met Office spokesperson said: "Cloud will increase from the west overnight but it will be a slow process and it’s not really until after midnight that cloud cover readily increases across western areas.

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"So much of the country will have a good opportunity to view a cloud-free sky."

According to astronomers, the meteors have made their way to our skies from the constellations of Camelopardalis and Perseus, from which their name is derived.

When these meteor fragments, which are typically the size of a grain of sand, reach the Earth’s atmosphere, the air around them becomes compressed forcing them to burn up and causing bright streaks in the night sky.

Dr Ed Bloomer, Senior astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said: “The Perseids should give good viewing a couple of days either side, with local weather and light conditions probably more significant factors than the precise mathematical peak.

“Perseus is rising in the north-east as the sun’s going down, and so you want to look maybe more over towards the east.”

Speaking to the Guardian, he added: “(The comet) is on this big, long 133-year orbit around the Sun, and it’s essentially debris that’s trailing off from behind that – so Swift-Tuttle makes its orbit, but the Earth then essentially crashes into that path year after year.”

The best way to catch the meteor shower will be to head to an area of low light, away from highly populated areas.

Experts advise to lay down on your back and look up at the sky, giving your eyes some time to adjust to light.

“You might get lucky and see a fireball, [that’s] a bit of debris about the size of your fist coming through the atmosphere – that can go [on] for five, 10 seconds,” Mr Bloomer added.

“You might even see it break up, and that’s pretty special,” said Bloomer. “But the majority of these things are little flashes.”

While you might be tempted to bring some friends to watch the light show, Mr Bloomer said seeing Perseid can be a personal experience if viewed alone.