How to see the Perseids meteor shower

The Perseids meteor shower is on! Get a plan to get outside and start watching the shower! This guide will tell you what you need and how to make a plan to see the shower on your own! If you want to skip the planning just book a tour to see the shower and more up close in a telescope with me.

In short:

Plan = when?, where?, & how?

#1 - when?

Any day from Aug ~7th to the ~15th with ~11pm - ~3am any of those nights being a good time.

#2 - where?

Either just try your backyard or using this map find the darkest place that you can get to safely and legally: https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=4.00&lat=39.1997&lon=-97.2914&layers=B0TFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Check the weather for temperature and cloud cover here: weather.gov

#3 - how?

The best way to increase your chances to view any meteor shower is to: 1) turn off all lights and let your eyes adjust to the dark for 20min. 2) lay on your back under the night sky to maximize the amount of your field of view taken up by the sky. I recommend heading to a public park with a picnic blanket and lay out on your blanket in the middle of a light-less grassy field.

What you need to bring:

1. Something to lay down on (picnic blanket, trampoline, hammock, sleeping pad, rug, air mattress, etc.)

2. Your eyes

3. Optional:

   1. Bug spray

   2. Warm clothes for falling temperatures

   3. A sky map app on your smartphone

   4. Binoculars

   5. telescope

Meteor showers are caused by the Earth traveling through a part of its orbit that has lots of debris left behind from a commit. As the Earth travels through this debris, the debris causes “falling stars” “shooting stars” or more correctly “meteors”. Small meteors (about the size of a grain of sand) are responsible for most of the shooting stars we see. These small meteors are moving extremely fast when the earth hits them ripping electrons off air molecules in the upper atmosphere, making them light up “electrifying” the air. I feel like this is what makes them so electrifying to watch!

The shower will “peak” in early August with the night of the 11th or early morning of the 12th technically being the “peak”. However, I wouldn't focus on the day it “peaks” too much as that’s just the day we will be in the middle of the debris field meaning you’ll see plenty of shooting stars before and after the ”peak”. The Perseids are a really big shower, I’ve been seeing plenty of shooting stars now even in late July. Any day from Aug ~7th to the ~15th should be really good to view the shower.

No matter the night it’s better to see meteor showers later in the night or in the wee hours of the morning ~11p to ~3p with ~2p usually being ideal. Because this is when the Earth has turned you to look more in the direction it is traveling around the sun. If you imagine the Earth as a spaceship orbiting the sun when you look up in the sky in the early evening it’s like looking out a side window, and when you look at the sky in the around midnight it’s like looking out the pilot's front window. If you’re not one to stay up late I recommend checking it out before the “peak” because this will get you a better early evening view. With a new moon on the 8th means the moon won't subtract with it's natural light pollution and you'll be able to see fainter shooting stars in the early evening (~9:30p) on the 8th than during the “peak” on the 11th. So, if you’re not up for staying up so late I would actually recommend seeing it before the “peak”.

Location can have a huge impact on how many shooting stars you will see as well. You want a very dark open area. I recommend using this mapping tool to find the best spot near you: https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=4.00&lat=39.1997&lon=-97.2914&layers=B0TFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

I’m always impressed with places like Cherry Creek State Park or the Rocky Mountain arsenal for being so dark yet ~15 minutes away from some of the brightest areas in Colorado. Then there's places that are very dark like Nederland that's less than 1 hr from the brightest areas in the state. It’s all about finding that balance. You’ll still see the brightest falling stars in your backyard, the darker the better but don’t let it be a barrier to seeing the shower.

You want a clear area so when you lay down and look up you only see the night sky. trees/hills are nice to block out some of the surrounding light pollution but you don’t want them to block your view of the night sky and miss out on shooting stars behind them. Defiantly check the weather as well, you're not going to see any shooting stars if its cloudy. Weather.gov

Laying down under the night sky is the biggest cheat code to seeing more shooting stars. This shower is the “Perseids” meaning that the shooting stars will appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the North-West sky. however, you will be able to see them all over the sky! Laying down so you can see the maximum amount of sky at one time is the best way to maximize your chances of seeing a shooting star. I recommend picnic blankets, trampolines, hammocks, sleeping mats, a rug, air mattress, anything that will let you lay out under the stars for a good amount of time in comfort.

You want to lay out in complete darkness (no phones, no lights) for at least 30 mins. It will take your eyes about 20min to adjust to the dark to start seeing dimmer shooting stars. You should be able to see 50 to 75 shooting stars per hr for this shower. If you just look for ~10 min after your eyes have adjusted you will be able to see ~10 meteors and get ~10 wishes!

With that you should be more than prepared to view the meteor shower this August! Here’s a small list of other bonus things to see if you can spot while you’re out there:

1. The big dipper in the north west sky

2. The Moon - you will see a crescent moon in the West just after sunset the nights immediately around the “peak” (Aug 10th - 15th)

3. Venus - it will be the first “star” you can see after sunset low in the Western sky

4. Saturn - Saturn will be low in the Eastern sky just after sunset and rising high in the southern sky ~1a. Saturn will be at 'opposition' (basically closest it'll be to Earth) on Aug the 2nd (I also wouldn't focus on the exact date so much as we'll have good late views of Saturn all of August and beyond) Saturn will be spectacular in some binoculars or a telescope.

5. Jupiter - Jupiter will not appear till well after sunset but should be low in the Western sky around 11p it will be super bright and hard to miss. You will be able to see up to four of Jupiter’s moons in a pair of binoculars or a telescope

6. The milky way - if you’re in a dark enough area you won’t be able to miss it high in the Eastern sky ~11p

7. Use a star app on your phone to identify other stars / constellations. This is a fun thing to play with but every time you look at your phone remember you are losing your night vision, making it harder to see dimmer shooting stars. Turn down your screen brightness and be courteous of others not to shine light in their eyes.

If you want to see all this and more in a telescope book an astronomy tour here: Astrotours.org/booking

Seasonal indicators

You made it to summer! June 21st 2021 is the first day of summer and you can tell by using the "summer triangle". Rising in the east at sunset there are three distinctly bright stars (Vega, Altair, and Deneb) which make up the summer triangle. This triangle has been a seasonal indicator for centuries in the northern hemisphere; when you see this triangle rising in the east you can know it’s summer time. Here we are at the start of summer and sure enough the summer triangle is right on the eastern horizon at sunset!

Mid June 2021 (6/15/21) sky at astronomical twilight (about 10:40pm) With "summer triangle" highlighted.

Earth has two solstices and two equinoxes, and June 21st 2021 was "summer solstice" the longest day of the year (in the northern hemisphere). This is also the day that the sun is highest in the sky (in the northern hemisphere). Because the Earth's daily rotation around its axis is tilted from the yearly rotation around the sun there’s times where the sun is directly above the equator (equinox) and times the sun is above the tropic of Capricorn/tropic of Cancer (solstices). Jun 21st the sun was above the tropic of cancer making it the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere.

Relationship of Earth's axial tilt to the tropical and polar circles

Solstice is used to officially denote the start of summer and has been used for centuries. Stonehenge was used to measure the sunrise/set at the extreme points in the sky to mark solstices. You can do this at home stand in a easy to remember place like the center of your patio and watch the sun set over the next month or so. The first time you look take note of where and when the sun sets. you can do this by placing something like a rock/bottle out on the edge of your patio where you see it set or just take note of what distant trees/mountains/landmarks it sets behind. Check back a month or two later (standing in the exact same location you started with) and you should see the Sun setting slightly south of where it set during your first observation. If you keep laying out stones marking where the sun sets all year you'll eventually have made your own stone hinge from your observations (if you can check back on September 22nd that will mark fall equinox).

Stonehenge measuring sunset

The ancient Egyptians used the second brightest star in the sky (only second to the Sun) Sirius to denote the start of summer. When Sirius is seen rising in the morning with the sun (as it is now) it was the hottest days and coincided with the flooding of the Nile. On occasion you might hear hot days referred to as “dog days” this actually comes from Sirius the “dog” star and dates back to ancient Egypt. It was thought that the Sun and Sirius (the two brightest stars in the sky) shining together is what made the days so hot. Because Sirius is in the constellation Canis major, the “big dog” in the sky it was natural to call hot days “dog days”. It's been hypothesizes that the "ventilation" chambers of the great pyramid in Giza were actually designed to line up with the position of Sirius. The Egyptians could have used this to make astronomical observations, much like Stonehenge was used with the sun.

Orientations of the ventilation channels of the great pyramid with the stars Thuban, and Sirius "Sirio".

Another seasonal indicator is the Big Dipper/North Star. If you're above ~35 deg latitude (as we are in Colorado) you can see the big dipper year round in your northern sky. The North Star is fairly easy to locate using the Big Dipper with the two stars at the end of the vessel of the dipper pointing right at it (see pictures below). The Big Dipper always points to the north star, like a spoke of a bike tire rotating around the north star once a year. You can use this yearly rotation to get an idea of what time of the year you’re in. Most basically if the Big Dipper is to the West of the North Star it’ll be hot (summer) and East of the North Star it’ll be cold (winter). You can further divide it by using if the Big Dipper is above the North Star at sunset it’s Spring and below the North Star at sunset means it’s fall.

My personal favorite seasonal indicator is Orion vs Scorpio. The story is that Orion has a restraining order on Scorpio. Scorpio is responsible for Orion’s death so when the gods were placing the constellations in the sky Orion made it clear he didn’t want to be anywhere near Scorpio so they placed them on opposite sides of the sky. Because they are on opposite sides of the sky, Orion is only seen in the winter night sky and Scorpio is only seen in the Summer. I can use this to see when I have skiers/people most familiar with the winter sky on the tour in the summer because they’ll ask “where’s Orion? I always see Orion”. This was also seen in the southern hemisphere there’s an Australian Aboriginal song called the “Maysong” the gist of the song is that when “the hunter” (Orion) goes to sleep and the “scorpion” (Scorpio) rises in the east that’s the best time to go salmon fishing. The song is called the Maysong because it’s describing what happens in the sky in the month of May when we transition from having Orion in the sky to having Scorpio.

If you want to learn more star lore and get an up close look at these seasonal indicators book an Astro Tour today

Check out Mercury tonight!

On May 17th Mercury reached “greatest eastern elongation” meaning Mercury is best viewed just after sunset in the next few days!

To see Mercury look to the west after sunset the main trick here is you want to look a bit after sunset when it’s dark enough that Mercury is visible but if you wait too long Mercury will set. A tad after 9P has been about perfect for me. Mercury will be fairly low on the western horizon at sunset so it is best seen when you have a clear view of the western horizon, which can be difficult from the front range with the mountains directly west of us. I am seeing it where I am in Boulder even with the mountains towering to the west but you will have a better time the further east you go (or even better from a mountain peak, or a beach with the ocean to the west!).

Mercury was named after the fastest god Mercury with wings on his shoes because Mercury (the planet) moves really fast! Watch Mercury over the next few days and you will see why. Just over the next few days you can see Mercury bolt to the horizon and in about a week it’ll be impossible to see!

This is because Mercury is the innermost planet; it's able to race around the sun once every 88 days! so if you missed it this time save the date for September 13, 2021 when you'll be able to see it in the west after sunset again!

This is a fun age calculator that will tell you your age on other planets: https://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/age/ you will always find Mercury to be the largest since it’s the quickest to get around the sun! (Checking that for this post I found this weekend will be my first birthday on Saturn! 🥳)

Diagram showing phases of Mercury (and Venus) and how far from the sun/horizon at sunset they get when viewed from earth.

Because Mercury orbits the sun so close and the earth’s orbit is much further from the sun Mercury never gets more than about 20 degrees from the sun in our sky. Astronomers only really count twilight as being over when the sun is more than 20 degrees below the horizon. Meaning you only really see Mercury during twilight making it one of the hardest planets to spot!

The Main thing to see with Mercury in binoculars/telescopes is its phases. Just like the moon Mercury as phases and they are slightly visible in good binoculars or a telescope. You should beagle to see a little lopsidedness to the dot when looking and if you have a good telescope you might beagle to see what phase it's in.

If you want to see it up close in a big telescope book a tour in the next few days! AstroTours.org/booking