Want to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower? Here’s when it’s happening

The Perseid Meteor Shower is happening tonight, August 12. And if the weather cooperates, we will have a chance to see a pretty cool astronomical event across Alabama.

Because we are in a new moon phase, the sky will be darker than usual. The meteors can appear anywhere in the sky and you should expect to see between 40-100 per hour.

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When to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower

The forecast does call for some cloudy skies this evening, but we all know in Alabama that can change.

Below are details on how to watch “stars falling” on Alabama tonight:

• The best time to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower is 11PM to early morning (after midnight is best).
• Check the hourly forecast on weather.com to make sure it is not too cloudy.
• Find a comfortable place to watch – pull out a lawn chair or make yourself comfortable on the back of a pickup truck.
• Have your head on a swivel, the shower can come from all directions.
• Visit NASA.gov for more tips

While a brief shower is expected in the early afternoon Wednesday, the sun is supposed to re-emerge for the evening, coupled with some cloudy skies. Here’s how the skies are expected to look from midnight into tomorrow morning:

The best way to watch is to make sure you are somewhere with minimal light pollution. Weather permitting, here are some spots to watch, according to locals:

• Ditto Landing
• Rural spots outside the city, including:
  • Gurley
  • Meridianville
  • New Market
  • Harvest

If you can’t find a dark place to watch outdoors, NASA and Alabama’s Marshall Space Flight Center have set up a YouTube live channel.

On top of the meteor shower tonight NASA is also showing live the eclipse happening over Europe and partially in the U.S.

Calling all shutterbugs and videographers

A call out to our readers! If you are able to photograph or film the meteor showers please feel free to share them with us on our Facebook page or Instagram.

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