Perseid Meteor Shower Did Not Disappoint, See The Highlights [Video]
The annual Perseid meteor shower peaked last night, giving observers a great show with over 100 meteors flying through the sky per hour. Astronomers said that the meteor shower was extra special this year because of the position of the moon, making the night sky darker and easier to observe the meteor shower.
If you missed the amazing Perseid meteor shower on Wednesday night, don’t worry. You can still see the amazing meteor shower on Thursday night but there will be less meteors visible and the moon will be brighter, making it a little more difficult to see, according to Vox.
The reason we can see the Perseid meteor shower every year is because Earth passes through the region of space the contains the debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet. The Swift-Tuttle comet nears the sun every 133 years and due to the heat, it causes it to vaporize and leaves behind a trail of dust and other small pieces of debris which is better known as the Perseid meteor shower, according to Sky & Telescope.
Star gazers took to Twitter last night to share their experiences while watching the Perseid meteor shower.
Saw three shooting stars tonight…meteor shower that happens about once a year. Surreal!
— Binh Nguyen (@Binh_4thewin) August 13, 2015
The meteor shower last night was amazing
— Hannah Joelle (@hannahvan29) August 13, 2015
Last nights meteor shower ??? pic.twitter.com/3nigNGwOIf
— Emerald Mae Gibson (@BNGS1977) August 13, 2015
Other stargazers around the world gave us the pleasure of time-lapsing the whole show from their point of view and the results were amazing.
This beauty was from Germany.
The Perseid meteor shower will continue tonight so if you did not have the opportunity to witness it last night, you’re still in luck tonight. Grab a blanket, find a dark spot, and camp out because this won’t happen fast. Last night the meteor shower peaked at about 1 a.m. so don’t expect to go to bed early.
[Photo by Ethan Miller/ Getty Images]
