The Perseid meteor shower will peak between August 11 and 12. Perseid is one of the most beautiful meteor showers we get each year. However, this year, the Sturgeon Moon is expected to peak around the same time. As a result, those who wish to watch the Perseid meteor shower in 2022 will find it difficult during its peak. To make up for that, the Virtual Telescope Project is hosting a live webcast on August 9.
How to watch Perseid meteor shower in 2022
If you’d like to watch the Perseid meteor shower in person this year, then you’ll need to head outside on August 11 and August 12. As I noted above, the August full moon is expected to arrive around those same days. As a result, seeing the shower in person may be a bit difficult as the Moon’s light may drown out the meteors. However, there is another option.
If you want to watch the meteor shower and get a better glimpse of it, tuning into the Virtual Telescope Project’s live webcast is probably your best bet. The live webcast will kick off on August 9, before the Moon reaches its peak. The telescope feed will showcase any images of the meteor shower captured by the telescope’s wide-field cameras.
Watching the Perseid meteor shower every year has become a bit of a tradition for many sky watchers. When the skies are clear, you can see between 50 to 100 visible meteors an hour. However, seeing them in person might be a bit more troublesome because the Moon is set to be so bright this year.
Where does this shower come from?
Debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle is responsible for the Perseid meteor shower. This comet travels a massive 133-year orbit, and each year, particles from the debris cloud behind the comet reach Earth. The shower is also most prominently visible in the Northern Hemisphere. However, the visibility can change based on the current Moon cycle.
Perseid first appears in mid-July. However, the meteors don’t peak until around August 9 to August 14, depending on where the debris stream is. You can try to watch the Perseid meteor shower in 2022 by watching the sky before the Moon peaks or by tuning into the Virtual Telescope Project’s live webcast on August 9.
