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5 days ago
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If you're a keen stargazer, be sure to keep your eyes on the sky tomorrow night.
On Tuesday evening, the Perseid Meteor Shower will reach its dazzling peak - and you won't want to miss it.
At the height of the yearly display, you'll be able to spot as many as 150 fireballs shooting overhead every hour.
And with the Met Office currently forecasting clear skies over most of England and Wales, this could be one of the year's best opportunities to see some shooting stars.
However, the remaining light from the recent full Sturgeon Moon might make it hard to spot some of the fainter meteors.
But if you don't manage to spot any fireballs this Tuesday, there's no need to worry.
Although they will be at their most stunning tomorrow night, you'll still be able to catch the Perseids until August 24.
So, here's the best time to catch the spectacular celestial display.
Keen stargazers should keep their eyes on the sky tomorrow night as the Perseid Meteor Shower reaches its dazzling peak with up to 150 shooting stars every hour. Pictured: The Perseid Meteor Shower above Corfe Castle, Scotland
To see the Perseid Meteor Shower, look towards the constellation Perseus from which the meteors appear to emerge. You can find this constellation by looking for the bright 'W' of Cassiopeia
How to see the Perseid Meteor Shower
If you want to get the best chance of seeing the Perseid Meteor Shower, the most important thing will be avoiding any unnecessary sources of light.
Since it is summertime, that means you'll need to wait until at least 10:00 pm for the sky to be dark enough.
Meteor showers tend to become more impressive towards midnight when the sky is darkest, so be prepared for a late night if you want the best view.
Dr Edward Bloomer, senior astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, told Daily Mail: 'Try and get somewhere dark, and crucially let your eyes adjust to the dark.
'It's a physical process, so it will take a while. Basically, put your phone away, relax, and be a little patient.'
Dr Bloomer recommends taking at least half an hour to allow your eyes to reach maximum sensitivity.
Once your eyes have adapted to the dark, all you need to do is sit back and look at the sky.
To see the Perseid Meteor Shower, look to the northeast around midnight on Tuesday when the shower will be at its most active. Pictured: The Perseids seen from Inner Mongolia, China
WHERE DO METEORS COME FROM?
Meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits from broken asteroids.
When comets come around the sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them.
Every year, Earth passes through these debris trails, letting the bits collide with our atmosphere and disintegrate, creating fiery streaks in the sky.
Source: NASA
Although they can peak at 150 shooting stars per hour, the Perseids may come in fits and starts, so don't be put off if you go a few minutes without seeing anything.
'The meteor shower will appear to 'radiate' from the constellation Perseus, so that's your best bet,' says Dr Bloomer.
You can find Perseus in the Northeast, near the constellation Cassiopeia, which you should be able to recognise by the bright 'W' or 'M' of stars.
Dr Bloomer adds: 'If that part of the sky is obscured, don't worry; the shooting stars can appear in any part of the sky.'
You can also try looking at other regions of the sky to catch the shooting stars in your peripheral vision, which tends to be a little more light sensitive.
The good news for any budding astronomers is that you won't need any special equipment to see the Perseid Meteor Shower.
Dr Shyam Balaji, of King's College London, told Daily Mail: 'It is one of the fastest and brightest meteor showers of the year, so an astronomical highlight for stargazers.
'For me personally, I think the best way to view the meteor shower is just with your naked eye because of the speed with which they move.
The Perseids are among some of the fastest meteors, so you won't be able to see them through a pair of binoculars. Instead, simply let your eyes adjust to the darkness and be patient. Pictured: The Perseids seen from Madrid
The Met Office forecast predicts that there will be clear skies over England and Wales on Tuesday night, with clear patches for Scotland and Northern Ireland into the early hours of Wednesday morning
'But you could use Sky Guide or Stellarium, or other stargazing apps, to get a better viewing experience, to target the right regions of the sky to see the meteor shower.'
To make things even better, the Met Office is currently forecasting good conditions for much of the UK.
Tom Morgan, operational meteorologist at the Met Office, told Daily Mail: 'Tonight will see quite a lot of cloud over the country, but southern England may turn clearer during the early hours.
'Tomorrow night will generally see clearer skies than tonight with Wales, central England and northern England having the most prolonged clear periods during the evening but some clear periods likely in many parts of the UK at times and into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
What is the Perseid Meteor Shower?
Like all annual meteor showers, the Perseids are caused by the Earth sweeping through a cloud of orbiting dust.
'The Perseid meteor shower is caused by the Earth travelling through the debris left by a comet called Swift-Tuttle,' says Dr Balaji.
Since this patch of dust is always in the same place within Earth's orbit, the Perseids always occur at the same time of year and appear from the same point in the sky.
Skywatchers across the UK will be among those able to enjoy the Perseid meteor shower, which takes place when the Earth ploughs through debris left behind by the Swift-Tuttle Comet during its trips through the inner solar system. Pictured: The Perseids seen from Bonar, Spain, earlier this year
As the Earth moves through the debris cloud, tiny pieces of rock and dust hit the atmosphere at 37 miles (59 kilometres) per second.
The intense heat produced by the friction of that impact burns up the meteors in seconds.
The smallest pieces of rock vaporise to leave bright trails that we see as shooting stars, while the larger chunks explode into fireballs.
Although we don't know exactly when the Perseids started, the first sightings date back nearly 2,000 years to early records from ancient China.
WHY DO METEORS MAKE A SOUND?
Meteors are fragments of space rock that enter the Earth's atmosphere and burn up as a result of the friction created when they pass through, appearing as bright streaks of light in the sky.
As well as light, this friction also creates sound, with some meteors creating a 'sonic boom' as they break the sound barrier, in a similar way to a fast-moving aircraft.
Since meteors can be over a hundred kilometres in altitude, and their sound waves travel much slower than the light they generate, the sonic boom is often not heard until many minutes after the flash is seen.
The boom will also only be loud enough to hear from Earth if the meteor is particularly large, enters the stratosphere below an altitude of about 30 miles (50 km) and explodes as a bolide, or fireball.
As well as the boom, some stargazers claim to have heard hissing and buzzing sounds at the same time as a meteor is seen.
This is because meteors also give off very low frequency radio waves, which travel at the speed of light.
These are inaudible, but can cause physical objects on the Earth's surface to vibrate and produce a sound, which our ears may interpret as hissing.
Sometimes, stargazers are able to hear a meteor as it creates a 'sonic boom', in a similar way that a fast-moving aircraft does (stock image)
