Perseid meteor shower peaks this weekend

What causes it: The Perseid meteor shower occurs every year as Earth passes through debris and dust left from Comet Swift-Tuttle from it’s last pass near Earth in 1992. The pieces of debris heat up as they enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up, causing a burst of light which streaks across the sky. These are called meteors or “shooting stars”. If they make it to the surface of Earth, they are called meteorites. The earth passes through the debris from July 17 to August 24. The peak of the shower occurs this weekend as we pass through the densest, dustier area of the debris.

How to see them: This year, moonlight won’t interfere with seeing the meteors since it will be a crescent moon and will set early. So, to see the meteor shower, the key is to get to a dark location, away from city lights and let your eyes adjust to the dark. The Perseids appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northern sky, but you will be able to see them anywhere in the sky. So get comfortable, be patient and scan the sky. A rate of 60-70 per hour are expected which includes the very faint meteors along with bright fireballs. They tend to be more numerous after midnight to the pre-dawn hours.

Cloud cover forecast: Areas north of I-70 are expected to have mostly clear skies both Saturday and Sunday nights but areas farther south will see some clouds. Clouds will increase from the south Saturday night with scattered to broken clouds in the Ozarks by Sunday morning. Clouds will also be around Sunday night, moving in from the southwest.