Tonight is one of the most regular, awe-inspiring and peaceful displays of beauty in nature: the Perseid meteor shower. Go outside tonight, take a break from the frustrations and difficulties of current events; recharge. Relax.
The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most regular and wonderful shows that nature puts on for us, and it is something that can be seen by almost everyone on the planet. (NASA article)
The show will be going on all night. Before the moon comes up, 9-11pm local time, may be best, but there should still be some visible even after the moon rises. There should be a burst of up to 200/hour around 4am Eastern, 1am Pacific when a particulary dense clump of dust hits our atmosphere- or rather, as Earth hits the clump. (SpaceWeather.com)
It's a warm summer night, and there's an amazing light show outside. If it isn't cloudy in your area, go out, relax, and enjoy the show.
Tip:If you're in/near a city and want to find the darkest viewing spot in the area:
- Get your GPS coordinates by searching "coordinates (Your Zip Code)" into WolframAlpha (e.g. "coordinates 30322")
- Convert this into decmial form here.
- Plug the decimal coordinates into the Dark Sky Finder applet to get the GPS coordinates of nearby viewing spots. (Note that it requires the W coordinate to be negative for some reason).
- Plug the coordinates into Google Maps to get you there. (making the W coordinate positive)