Ever heard of the Perseid Meteor shower? No, neither had we until earlier today, but now we know about it we can’t wait till the sun goes down so we can get stargazing!

Basically, it should possible to see the Perseid Meteor shower every year; it’s an annual event that takes place in the skies above Britain. Meteor showers happen when a collection of meteors shoot out from one place, caused by streams of small cosmic flotsam and jetsam shooting into the Earth’s atmosphere at very high speeds.

The Perseid Meteor shower seems to originate from the Perseides constellation, which is where the shower gets it’s name from. The stream of debris that comes from the Swift-Tuttle comet as it moves along it’s orbit is what forms the Perseid Meteor shower, and these super fast particles are most often visible in the UK in the summer months.

Image by Navicore on wikicommons

What it means in real terms is that anytime from mid-July, but peaking between the 9th and 14th August, the night skies above Britain are awash with “shooting stars”, or a meteor shower to get technical. During the peak days, it’s possible to see up to 60 meteors shooting across the sky every hour. That is a lot of shooting stars, and a lot of wishes (or is it just us that wishes on shooting stars??)…

And this year, the show is set to be even more spectacular because for the first time in 8 years (since 2007), the Perseid Meteor Shower coincides with a new moon, which astronomers say gives optimum viewing conditions.

The earliest recording of this meteor shower dates back to Chinese culture in AD36, however, it was first scientifically recognised as an annual cosmic event in 1835 by Quetelet, a Belgian astronomer.

So, keep all fingers and toes crossed that it doesn’t cloud over this evening so that we can all enjoy the fantastic show. If you can find a dark spot away from light pollution then so much the better. You don’t need any special equipment like a telescope or binoculars, you should be able to see the Perseid meteor shower just by looking up into the sky. So grab yourself a drink and a garden chair and sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Isn’t mother nature amazing? And move over Prof Cox, we totally get this physics lark…..

Image by Brocken Inaglory on wikicommons