Bravo Perseid Meteor Shower, Making It Rain Stars on Summer Nights

It’s an enchanting time of year whether you’re out sunning yourself around the Sooke Potholes or under a warm starry night sky.

This week couldn’t be more perfect in Victoria for the annual Perseid meteor shower. Clear skies, warm nights and hundreds of shooting stars — aka meteors to put on a show for us. This year’s meteor shower also appears to be on performance enhancing drugs…the usual number of visible meteors per hour is 60, this year we’re getting up to 200 meteors an hour.

The peak for the meteor shower was early Friday morning, but don’t let that stop you from sliding into your hammock, grabbing a soft blanket and a warm friend to recline under the stars with. There’s still plenty of meteor shower to go around, they’ll continue through the weekend.

Tips for watching the Perseid meteor shower in Victoria:

• First, warn your neighbours that your exclamations of joy and amazement will be plentiful if you’re in the backyard. We were blown away by the the meteors! While they flashed across the sky, many of them left a long tail of light and smoke in their path. Spectacular.
• Head outside later in the night when the moon is lower in the sky, you’ll get a deep dark sky and a better view of this epic show
• Make an evening out of it. Settle down for a 30-60 minute show, if you just walk out on the deck and look at the sky your eyes won’t be adjusted quite enough to really see anything.
• Bring a blanket, this is Vancouver Island and it’ll get a little chilly in the dark night, even after a 28 degree day.
• Use an app like the Skyview App to find the Perseus constellation and pay closer attention to the area above it, the meteors will often appear to shoot out around the top of the constellation.
• Bring a friend, it’s a great shared experience.
• If you’re trying some night photography, use a fast lens so you can catch them streaking across the sky. More photo tips

More tips on watching these tiny particles burn up in our atmosphere:

Top tips for 2016’s Perseid meteor shower

All about Meteors & Meteorites: Perseids

Meteor Shower Peak Time

Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Aug. 11 and 12 with a Possible Strong Outburst!

These photos below capture a satellite orbit cruising by…Bonus: Between the shooting stars, you get some sweet quiet time to notice the little things up in the night sky.

Best thing about watching this celestial show? The quiet time with loved ones…well at least between the oooohs and ahhhhhhs…

Mel Z – Midday Show 10am – 3pm on Ocean 98.5