The peak night of the annual Perseid meteor shower is almost upon us—and 2023 looks set to be one of the best displays for years … clear skies allowing.
You’ve probably already heard about the Perseids. After all, the media loves a meteor shower. However, most reports are big on hype and short on actual expert advice. Most journalists and writers wouldn’t know what a “shooting star” looked like if it flashed right before their eyes.
That’s true for most people, many of whom make simple and avoidable errors when searching for “shooting stars.”
One massive error is not knowing what a “shooting star” will look like. No, it’s not a slow-moving, bright light in the distance—that’s a plane or a satellite. A “shooting star” moves fast—about 40 mph for a Perseid meteor— and is visible for a split second. It’s a thrilling, fleeting sight!
Here are 10 more of the most common mistakes beginners make when going hunting for the Perseids:
1. Missing the Peak Night
The Perseid meteor shower happens every year. It runs from July 14 through September 1 in 2023, but it begins and ends virtually unnoticed. What you want to see is the best, busiest night of all—the peak night on Saturday/Sunday, August 12/13, 2023.
In practice, the peak of the Perseids is many hours long, so wherever you observe from in the world prioritize from 10:00 p.m. to 04:00 a.m.—with 02:00 a.m. the time your location will be in the middle of the night-side of Earth. Your sky will be darkest and the meteors’ radiant point will be highest in the sky.
Either way, you want to be in situ on August 12 ready for a long night … though if you’re committed then it’s wise to be outside a night either side of the peak, thus reducing the chance of a complete washout if peak night is cloudy.
2. Not Getting to a Dark Sky site
You can see “shooting stars” in cities—of course, you can. Just not very often. While the bright meteors will impress from urban areas, only if you’re in a dark sky site with no light pollution will you see dozens of “shooting stars” per hours. If you stay in your urban backyard you’ll be lucky if you see three or four in an evening even right at the peak. Darkness is so important.
3. Thinking the Show Begins at Sunset
Every year thousands of misinformed people drive to observatories in remote locations hoping for a post-sunset show they will never forget, with a plan to drive home to bed. Meteor showers don’t work like that. Even if the peak technically happens at sunset (which it actually does this year for North Americans)—“shooting stars” only become more visible once the source constellation—the radiant point—is high up in a darker sky, which typically (including this year) means a couple hours after midnight.
4. Turning up at a National Park on Peak Night
The Perseids are famous. Really famous. All amateur astronomers, eclipse-chasers, stargazers and nature lovers know about them. Photographers, too. If you turn up on a whim at a national park or campground—particularly somewhere well-known and/or accessible from a big city—you’ll have very little chance of finding a spare pitch. Get booking early—a campsite, glamping site or anywhere else where big, bright lights are unlikely. If you have an RV, avoid brightly-lit RV parks and go boon-docking on Bureau of Land Management land, if that’s an option in your state.
5. Getting a Sore Neck
Looking straight up at the night sky for hours on end is impossible. It will drive you insane and you’ll likely go to bed before the peak even begins. So bring a lawn chair—preferably one that allows you to recline—and a blanket. Another good solution—particularly if you have a partner who is cool about the whole idea—is to book a remote cottage or go glamping somewhere with an outdoor hot tub (which will also keep you entertained if it’s cloudy).
6. Having Very High Expectations
You’ll often read articles about the possibility of seeing up to 150 “shooting stars” per hour during the peak. It’s just not true. Anyone who’s ever seen the Perseids—even in a very dark and clear sky—will tell you that a couple of dozen per hour is a fantastic result. Technically you can see between 50 to 75, according to the American Meteor Society, though that “zenithal hourly rate” is based on a mythical all-sky view in complete darkness, with 100% concentration, for the hour of the peak. Given you can blink and miss them, to see 50 in an hour is highly unlikely. But don’t lose interest because to see a few dozen “shooting stars” in the same night is something you will never forget.
7. Looking at a Smartphone
Bright white light against an inky black night sky is what you want to see. To have any chance you’ll need dark adapted eyes, which take about 30 minutes of complete darkness to nurture. Even a quick look at your smartphone will set that clock back to zero. It also means you’re distracted from the night sky, which also makes your chance of seeing “shooting stars” almost zero.
8. Using a Telescope or Binoculars
To see “shooting stars” you need as wide a view of the night sky as possible. Sure, you might associate astronomy with binoculars and a telescope, but both are the absolute worst idea if you want to see meteors. If the chances of seeing a “shooting star” are hugely increased on the peak night of the Perseids then a sure-fire way to bring that chance back down to zero is to pick up a pair of binoculars, or worse, peer through a telescope.
9. Going to Sleep Too Early
You’ve booked ahead, got organized, stayed up until midnight and now you want to go to sleep before the peak hour? Low rates in the hours before the peak typically dissuade people, but don’t let that happen to you. Stay awake, stay alert and keep drinking coffee (not alcohol, which dulls your eyesight as well as making you sleepy) in an effort to make it through to 2 a.m. and beyond.
10. Trying to Photograph Them
Fiddling with cameras is the absolute worst idea if you want to see “shooting stars.” Sure, you can put a camera on a tripod and have it automatically take hundreds of 30-second exposures in the hope of catching a meteor, but position it away from you and let it do its thing while you sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
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