The Perseid meteor shower is now at its peak as Earth travels through the debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle. The shooting stars were few and far between, to begin with, but as our planet travelled through the debris the meteor showers will become more common. The Perseid meteor shower will peak over August 11 and 12, with the best time to see it between midnight and 5.30am according to the Royal Greenwich Observatory.
NASA is offering you the chance to see the phenomenon, courtesy of a live stream from 2am which can be found on the NASA Meteor Watch Facebook page.
NASA said: “Heads up, Earthlings! The annual Perseid meteor shower is at its peak this week.
“If you can––go outside and look up. If not––we’ve got you covered!
“From dusk on Tuesday till dawn on Wednesday (August 11-12), we’ll have a telescope view of the sky over NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
“Most of the time, our live stream will look pretty dark. A Perseid meteor will look like a streak or flash of light.
“Early morning Wednesday (2 AM onwards) will be the best time to spot the Perseids, but they could show up any time during the night.
“So keep your eyes peeled, and happy stargazing!”
The shower we see from Earth is the little bits of ice and dust – that are usually no bigger than a pea – hitting the Earth’s atmosphere at a staggering 134,000 mph.
The meteors originate from the constellation of Perseus, which gives it its name.
The meteor shower is touted as the most prolific of the year, as between 50 and 60 meteors per hour will light up the sky.
READ MORE: Perseid meteor shower: What direction are the Perseids coming from?
During his torture, St Lawrence was said to have been burned on a grill, and despite the extreme pain he was enduring, he supposedly quipped: “Turn me over – I am done on this side!”
As he was executed on August 10, many Catholics associate the Perseid meteor shower with St Lawrence and dub the shooting stars as the “tears of St Lawrence” as they occur at the same time each year.
Astronomy website Slooh said: “In medieval Europe, the Perseids were called the ‘Tears of St Lawrence’ because they occur near the anniversary of the death of Laurentius, a Christian deacon who was martyred by the Roman Emperor Valerian in the year 258 AD.”