Mark your calendar: One of the best meteor showers of the year peaks on August 11.
To locate dark sites near you, check out the search tool from the nonprofitDarkSky International.
The Perseid shower is known for its big, bright meteors, which streak across the whole sky.
Photo:Scott Bakal
The Science of Meteor Showers
What exactly are you looking at, anyway?
Read on for a brief explainer and some interesting facts about meteors.
What are meteors?
Meteors happen when the rocks and dust in outer spacecalled meteoroidscollide with the earth’s atmosphere at high speeds.
They range in size from a grain of sand to meter-length boulders.
(The brightest ones will be big, fast pieces.)
When you spot a “shooting star,” that’s what you’re seeing.
What is a meteor shower?
A meteor shower is when dozens or even hundreds of meteors fall an hour.
What are the best meteor showers?
The meteors come from Halley’s comet.
The Leonidswill take place from November 3 to December 2, peaking the night of November 17.
The meteors come from the Tempel-Tuttle comet.
Fun fact: The Leonids are famous for producing storms (unfortunately, none is expected this year).
The Geminidswill fall from November 19 to December 24, peaking the night of December 13.
These come from an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon.
The Lyridsarrive in the spring, from April 15 to April 29, 2025.
They’ll peak the night of April 21 and come from the comet Thatcher.
How do meteor showers get their names?
They’re named after this location, which is usually a constellation.
Why are meteors different colors?
The color depends on what the meteoroid is made of.
When the nitrogen and oxygen in our atmosphere glow, they form a red streak.
Do meteors ever fall all the way to earth?
When they land on our planet, they’re called meteorites.
About 80,000 meteorites have been found so far, mostly in Antarctica.
Don’t worry: The odds of getting injured by one are extremely small.
In fact, only one person has ever been struck.
(Ann Hodges, in 1954, was hit in the hip while napping.
