The annual Perseid meteor shower could be more spectacular than usual, as a new moon results in darker skies and perfect viewing opportunities.
The peak of the meteor shower will be after midnight BST on Wednesday, with 4am Thursday being the best time to see the shooting stars, when spectators could see up to 80 streaking meteors per hour.
However, heavy cloud cover across Britain could obscure the show across much of the country, leaving spectators with a better chance of seeing the shower on Tuesday night.
Astronomer Brendan Owens, at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, plans to go out onThursday morning before dawn, when the Earth turns into the path of the meteors.
“I never miss the Perseid meteor shower. Every year I’ve taken the opportunity to go outside just before dawn. It is one of nature’s best night shows,” he said.
But the Met Office forecasts cloudy skies for most of the UK on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, which could interfere with seeing the meteors. Coastal areas around the England-Scotland border will have the best chance of clear skies.
The rest of the UK will have better chances of seeing the shower late on Tuesday night. For the best view look towards the east, although meteors can be visible in any part of the sky.
Spectators do not need a telescope to see the meteors, but astronomers recommend a blanket to wrap up warm and a deck chair to recline in, in order to view as much of the night sky as possible. A red light torch is good for preserving night vision, and it is best to avoid the use of mobile phones. One trick is to attach a red sweet wrapper over an ordinary torch with an elastic band.
Rural areas with low light pollution are the best locations for viewing the shower. Urban spectators can look for the darkest parts of the sky and cover up any light sources with their hands.
The Perseid meteors are bits of debris left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle, which passes through our solar system once every 133 years. When the comet gets close to the sun it heats up and releases debris into its orbit. The Earth then ploughs into the debris trail, resulting in predictable meteor showers around this time every year.
“From a scientific perspective, you can get information on how much material is breaking off from the comet,” Owens said. “You can gain scientific information as well as experiencing a beautiful spectacle.”
The meteors may look magnificent, but they are no more than bits of rock and ice the size of a grain of sand. They flare up in the sky because they are moving so fast - 60km per second.
The shower is named after the constellation Perseus, as the meteors appear to radiate from that particular cluster of stars. The Perseid shower started on 13 July and will die off quickly after the peak on Thursday, until the end of the shower on 26 August.
