How to view the Perseid meteor shower over the next 7 days
The Perseid meteor shower is reaching its peak activity over the next 7 days, and there will be several opportunities to view it as next week arrives. The official peak for this meteor shower is August 12-13th, but it is already active and under the right viewing conditions can be observed throughout the night.
These meteors that will be seen throughout the period of the meteor showers all start as meteoroids. Meteoroids are pieces of larger bodies that have broken off into smaller rocks and have yet to enter an atmosphere of another planet/body. Once they enter an atmosphere of any type, they are then considered at meteor. As these meteors burn up throughout the atmosphere, the effects can be seen visually with the plain eye, creating what we call, "shooting stars".
When there are many meteors visible to us over the course of a certain period of time, it is then considered a meteor shower. Every meteor from the Perseid meteor shower comes from pieces of rock that break off of the Swift-Tuttle comet and enter the Earth's atmosphere. During the peak, August 12-13th, up to 100 meteors per hour can be seen in the right viewing conditions.
Although it will not be as active, this meteor shower can already be viewed in the right area. Tonight, it will be warm and breezy, but mostly clear sky conditions can be expected. The moon reaching its full phase may take away from the visibility due to the light it emanates, but meteors can still be viewed in central Missouri throughout the night. Tomorrow night may be slightly more difficult in central and northern Missouri due to showers/storms occurring throughout the evening hours, but southern Missouri will be a bit more in the clear.
In the extended forecast for the peak of the Perseid meteor shower activity, a few showers/storms may be possible the 12-13th along with some cloud cover. This will be less widespread than the activity expected this weekend, so there still will be clear areas for viewing. The 12th, central Missouri along I-70 will take the majority of cloud coverage, and the 13th, this area will start to see a decrease in cloud cover. The best viewing areas as of now will be far northern and far southern Missouri, as less cloud cover is anticipated.
