If you’ve ever wished on a shooting star only to realise it was an Easyjet plane flying into Edinburgh Airport at night, you’ve got a chance to use all those saved up wishes as the Perseid meteor shower peaks in the next few weeks.
They’re named for the Perseus constellation which is visible in the night sky during August in the Northern Hemisphere, which is where the shooting stars seem to be falling from. But this is an optical illusion - and in fact, they’re not even stars at all.
They’re caused by dust and debris that a giant comet left in Earth’s path around the sun - the catchily-named 109P/Swift-Tuttle is twice the size of the comet that killed the dinosaurs but isn’t due to enter the inner Solar System for another hundred years.
The meteoroids burn up when they enter Earth’s atmosphere and that’s what we see streaking through the sky.
Technically the meteor shower started in mid-July, but they’ll be sporadic and not particularly visible until early to mid August. This is affected by the moon among other things - at a full moon where the sky is illuminated you won’t see as much as when it’s darker.
But this year’s shower will be brighter than usual at its peak around 11-13 August as the moon will have set long before the best time to view them, which is after midnight.
That’s assuming the skies are clear, after all - the BBC 14 day forecast suggests that there’s likely to be some cloud coverage during the week.
The Perseids are considered the best meteor shower of the year because of their speed and brightness, meaning they often leave dramatic trails of light behind them.
Where's the best place to watch the meteor shower?
The best place to watch the meteor shower is anywhere you can get a good view of the sky without light pollution - so while Calton Hill might be a good spot for the Hogmanay fireworks, it’s less likely to give you a clear view of the night sky.
Try and get out into the countryside - you don’t need to be high up so long as a good portion of the sky is visible.
They can be seen from 10pm, but the most dramatic show will be in the early hours of dawn - so make sure you’ve got some coffee.
During its peak, we could see up to 100 shooting stars in an hour - that’s a lot of wishes. Just make sure you don’t tell anyone what they are, or they won’t come true.
