Coachella, the Olympics, and every concert you wanted to go to this year may have been canceled thanks to the coronavirus, but there's one show COVID-19 can't stop.
The Perseids - which NASA calls the best annual meteor shower because of its bright, long-lasting rays of light and fireballs - is set to peak this week on August 11 and 12. The meteors are made up of tiny specks of ice and dust left behind by the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle. The meteor shower is named for the constellation Perseus, where the shooting stars and fireballs appear to radiate from.
Depending on the weather (and light pollution), sky-gazers could see as many as 50 to 75 shooting stars per hour with the highest number expected Tuesday night just after sunset through early Wednesday morning.
NASA says the best time to view the Perseids meteor shower will be from around 2 a.m. local time through dawn on August 12. You'll want to look toward the northeastern portion of the sky. For best results, make sure you're in an area far from city lights. Big Bear, Lancaster, and Palm Springs are excellent places to catch the show.
If you're not able to stay up that late, don't worry, you can still spot a few shooting stars as the show begins after sunset. Or, you can check out NASA's livestream of the event which will be available from 9 p.m. EST on August 11 until sunrise on August 12.
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