Perseid Meteor Shower Set To Peak Aug. 11-12 With Best View of 'Shooting Stars'

Ready to catch view of a shooting star or two during this year's display of the Perseid meteor shower, named for the constellation Perseus, from which the shower appears to radiate?

Then experts say you should be especially attentive overnight tonight and into the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, Aug. 12.

" . . . your chances will be best on Saturday night (Aug. 11) and Sunday morning (Aug. 12), because that's when we will be in the center of the comet track," reports Geoff Gaherty, Starry Night Education, on Space.com.

The report includes a video of early Perseid meteors slamming the atmosphere, as well as tips for best viewing the meteor shower. Among them:

Be patient. This is a "meteor shower" and not a meteor storm. "There will be a lot more meteors than you would see on a normal night, but they will still only come at random intervals, perhaps 20 or 30 in an hour."

Think you spotted a meteor? "It will likely be very fast and at the edge of your vision," Gaherty writes. "You may even doubt what you saw was real. But, when you do see something, watch that area more closely, as two or three meteors often come in groups down the same track."

For more information and tips, including a quiz for how well you know your facts about meteor shows, visit the Space.com article, Promising Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks on Sunday.