The Perseid meteor shower is tonight. Get a blanket, and try to escape city lights. Hit the jump to find out the best time to look up!
The Perseid meteor shower comes around annually, and tonight it’s expected to put on a good show. Meteors will be shooting through the sky over 100,000 mph before burning off- the evening of Sunday, August 11 into the morning of Monday, August 12. The best time to look up at the sky is after midnight on Monday morning. Avoid city lights, and if there are clear skies, then you’ll see up to 60 shooting stars per hour.
The meteor shower will be visible anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere if there are no clouds. Conditions should be good for viewing in the Northeast, especially around the Philadelphia and Washington D.C. areas.
No need to use binoculars tonight, all you need is your eyes. Find a nice dark/open sky, and get away from city lights if you can. Taking pictures with a smartphone may not work well. So if you plan on taking pictures, then bring a camera with manual settings and set the lens to the widest possible setting.