Up To 60 Perseids Per Hour Texarkana, Ready For The Weekend?

Welcome August skywatchers, there are two things we can always count on, the August heat, and the Perseid Meteor Shower. We already have one, the other is peaking this weekend.

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Cross your fingers for Saturday night into Sunday morning to be clear skies so we can see one of the two best meteor showers of the year this weekend. Saturday's moon should only be about 12% covered, known as a "Waning Cresent Moon" and will set early in the evening, which means a darker sky and more opportunity to see more meteors. The best time to watch is anytime after dark Saturday night into Sunday morning. The moon will rise around 3:30 AM, but still, it will only be a sliver.

This Should Be A Good One

The Perseid meteor shower should produce around 60 meteors per hour Saturday night. The Perseid shower is named that because the meteors appear to emanate from the Perseus Constellation. In actuality, the little blue marble we call Earth is flying through the debris field of comet Swift-Tuttle.

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Best Viewing In Review:

Sit back facing the north then gaze pretty much straight up.
You should be in an area that has the least light pollution if possible, the further away from city lights the better.
Give your eyes time to adjust, they can take up to 20 minutes to fully adjust to the darkness so you should plan on at least an hour's worth of meteor shower watching to get a good show.
Put down your phone, seriously. One thing you have to avoid during this time is light shining into your eyes, which would include looking at your phone. Gazing at the bright screen on your phone or tablet will cause your eyes to have to re-adjust to the darkness. Which is frustrating.

Remember, it's ok to unplug for an hour and just kick back and watch the stars.

To find out more about the Perseid Meteor Shower for 2023, check out Space.com.

Happy stargazing!