The New Moon on Sunday, 8th guarantees a dark sky in which to view shooting stars – providing there are no clouds. These are the Perseids and they began last month, becoming increasingly bright each night until their peak on 11th/12th/13th August.
The Perseid meteor shower is one of the brightest showers in the celestial calendar, with up to 100 shooting starts an hour to be seen if you’re in the Northern hemisphere. You should be able to see the Perseid meteor shower at around 12am (midnight) UK time to 5.30am. Look North East
In Ancient Greek star lore, Perseus (slayer of the Gorgon Medusa) was the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Danaë. It is said that the Perseid shower commemorates the time when Zeus visited Danaë, the mother of Perseus, in a shower of gold., in a shower of gold 🙂
The chief characters in the Perseus legend, Perseus, Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and the sea monster (Cetus), all figure in the night sky as constellations.
The Perseid meteor shower gets its name as it appears to come out of the constellation Perseus.
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