Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight

The annual Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak tonight and into tomorrow with the best visibility in the Northern Hemisphere.

NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office expects the shower to peak with rates of 30 to 40 meteors tearing through Earth's upper-atmosphere every hour.

That may sound alarming, but it's important to remember that our atmosphere is actually a very strong protective shield, creating too much pressure and drag on hurtling objects to allow them anywhere closer to Earth's surface. Most otherworldly objects that find their way into our atmosphere burn up on entry. Even cargo and humans attempting to come back from the International Space Station have to re-enter in specially designed landing pods complete with state-of-the art heat-shielding technologies.

In the case of the meteors we see streaking through our skies, they are actually just the burning remains of ice, rocks and dust as Earth passes through the cloud-like comma left by a comet in the distant past.

As comets draw closer to the Sun, their nucleolus - the icy main body of a comet - starts to melt, shedding water, ice and dust. This material is then left in a streak through space that Earth may later pass through.

According to NASA, the Perseid meteor shower is one of the most reliable showers to watch, having been observed for at least 2,000 years. It is associated with debris off the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun once every 133 years. It is an annual shower, with Tuttle's cloud of dust and ice always in Earth's path.

The meteors almost always appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, earning the shower its name. The constellation is also a prime target to closely watch. NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) expects the shower to peak at 3-4 a.m. EDT on August 13.

You can also chat with MEO staff during the event via a live chat that starts at 11 p.m. EDT tonight.