A highlight of sky watching is happening over South Dakota in August. The Perseid Meteor Shower will be lighting up the night sky in the northern hemisphere through the month.

The Perseid Meteor Shower is a night sky full of shooting stars. Space.com says that we could be able to see 100 meteors per hour at the shower's peak on the night of August 11 and 12, 2022.

The meteor shower will be visible all night. You may be able to catch some early flashes, and as the evening progressed, the amount will increase.

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"As the Earth rotates and the time approaches local midnight, the Perseid radiant has risen higher into the northeastern sky...As the morning progresses, the activity will increase as the radiant climbs higher into the sky," the American Meteor Society says, "Theoretically, the best time to watch the Perseids is just before the break of dawn when the radiant lies highest in a dark sky. "

The Perseid meteor shower happens when the Earth's orbit brings the planet through the debris of Comet Swift-Tuttle. At about 16 miles wide, the comet is the largest object known to repeatedly pass by Earth. Its 134-year orbit will bring the comet back our way in 2126.

"When you sit back to watch a meteor shower, you're actually seeing the pieces of comet debris heat up as they enter the atmosphere and burn up in a bright burst of light, streaking a vivid path across the sky as they travel at 37 miles (59 kilometers) per second." -Space.com

As always when it comes to exploring the night sky, the further away from city light you can get, the better.

Perseid Meteor Shower

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