Eyes on the skies for Perseid meteor shower

The Perseid meteor shower is set to light up the skies and is expected to be one of the most spectacularly stunning celestial events in recent years.

At its peak, between Thursday and Sunday this week, we could see a massive 200 meteors an hour.

Named after the Perseus constellation, particles the size of grain of sand from the tail end of Comet Swift-Tuttle will vaporise in Earth's atmosphere, grape size particles will produce a fireball accompanied by an afterglow, a column of ionised gas that fades from view as it loses energy.

Top Tips:

1. Watch between midnight and dawn. Most meteor showers are best after midnight, and the Perseids are no exception. After midnight, the part of Earth you’re standing on has turned into the meteor stream. That means the radiant point for the shower will be above your horizon.

2. Avoid city lights. A wide open area – a field or a lonely country road – is best if you’re serious about watching meteors.

3. Watch with friend or friends, and try facing in different directions so that if someone sees a meteor, that person can call out “meteor” to the rest.

4. Try observing in the evening hours. You won’t see as many meteors during the evening hours, and the moon will be up during the evening hours. But you still might catch an earthgrazer, which is a slow-moving and long-lasting meteor that travels horizontally across the sky.

5. Notice the speed and colors of the meteors. The Perseids are known to be colorful, and they are swift-moving, entering Earth’s atmosphere at about 35 miles per second (60 km per second).

6. Watch for meteor trains. A meteor train is a persistent glow in the air, left by some meteors after they have faded from view. Trains are caused by luminous ionized matter left in the wake of this incoming space debris. A good percentage of Perseids are known to leave persistent trains. They linger for a moment or two after the meteor has gone. Watch for them!

NASA have also prepared a handy guide: