TOPEKA (KSNT) - Kansans may see a meteor or two streaking across the night sky this month, courtesy of the Perseid meteor shower.
The Perseids are part of a shower which tends to peak in the middle of August each year and is considered one of the best to watch, according to NASA. The shower is created by the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, originating from the constellation Perseus in the night sky. At its height, people might see up to 100 meteors per hour.
Brenda Culbertson, a solar system ambassador with NASA, told 27 News in a written response the shower is predicted to hit its peak at 9 a.m. on Aug. 12. The exact peak time could shift however with Culbertson recommending people get out when they can to try and spot passing meteors.
"People should not wait for the peak date and time, though," Culbertson said. "The shower ranges from July 14 to Sept 01, and during clear nights, meteors may be seen. They will be more frequent the closer to peak times."
People wanting to get the most out of the Perseids should find a dark spot away from sources of light on a night when the Moon is not high in the sky. Getting comfortable in a chair can also help when trying to spot a meteor.
"They will appear to come from the constellation Perseus and radiate any direction across the sky," Culbertson said. "Perseus is a north circumpolar constellation, but just looking up will allow the observer's peripheral vision to spot them."
The Perseids are known for giving off impressive displays each year, according to NASA. Aside from the numerous meteors that can be spotted during the shower's peak, the meteors can also leave behind fireballs which leave behind large explosions of color that last far longer than a typical meteor streak.
"Perseids are known for fantastic displays, and often we will see a bollide (a meteor that explodes at the end of its pass) from time to time," Culbertson said. "Most meteors from a known shower are small pieces of debris left behind by a comet or an asteroid, and the pieces are about the size of a marble. The streak of light is caused by the meteoric material heating and disintegrating from friction with the molecules in Earth's atmosphere as the material passes through the atmosphere at high speed."
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