Editor’s note: this feature comes from the San Jose Mercury News. The annual summer Perseid display of “shooting stars” is a result of the Earth traveling through debris in the orbit of Comet Swift-Tuttle. Although the Perseid meteors appear to emanate from the area just below Cassiopeia, at the top of this image (the W-shaped constellation turned on its side), and above Perseus (to the middle right), they can be seen anywhere in the sky. This photo illustration is by Patrick Rowan.
Competing with the brilliant moon tonight will be the annual Perseid meteor shower. Generally the Northern Hemisphere’s biggest meteor shower of the year, the Perseids will peak early Wednesday morning[, August 13, 2014,] in the [San Franciso, CA,] Bay Area. Up to 40 meteors an hour are projected by NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.
Moonlight will decrease the visibility of this year’s display. The moon, just past full,…won’t set until past daylight Wednesday. The night sky, however, is expected to be relatively clear of clouds.
NASA’s online events include a live video stream of the skies over Alabama’s Marshall Space Flight Center starting at 6:30 p.m. PDT and a live web chat starting at 8 p.m.