Human World Tonight

LIVE ON MONDAY: It’s time for the Perseid meteor shower!

Posted by

August 2, 2024

It’s meteor season. The predicted peak of the Perseid meteor shower is 14 UTC on August 12, 2024. So the mornings of August 11 and 12 (and possibly 13) are probably your best bet for watching meteors in the Perseid shower this year. Questions? Join us LIVE at 12:15 p.m. Central (17:15 UTC) on Monday, August 5. EarthSky veteran skywatchers Deborah Byrd and Kelly Kizer Whitt – along with Robert Lunsford, renowned meteor expert from the American Meteor Society, International Meteor Organization and more – will be there talking about the Perseids and answering your questions!

And, by the way, it’s going to be a great year for the Perseids! The moon will be at 1st quarter – in the evening sky, about 50% illuminated – during 2024’s peak of the Perseid meteor shower. So the best time to watch for Perseids will be starting around midnight until dawn.

Find Deborah and Kelly’s bios here: https://earthsky.org/about/

And we are pleased and honored to host Robert Lunsford:

A older man wearing a dark-colored zipped-up jacket, standing on what looks like a boat, in what looks like Antarctica. — Robert Lunsford has been a member of the American Meteor Society (AMS) – and frequent contributor there – since 1980. He is the current AMS Fireball Report Coordinator. He was a Founding Member of the International Meteor Organization in 1988 and is also a frequent contributor there. He has been the Meteor Section Coordinator of the Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers since 1988. He is the IMO Secretary-General and Fireball Program Coordinator. Author of: Meteors and How to Observe Them 2008. Image via Robert Lunsford. Used with permission

Bottom line: Meteor experts will be answering your questions LIVE in EarthSky’s weekly livestream, beginning at 12:15 central (17:15 UTC) on Monday, August 5. Join us!

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August 2, 2024

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Human World

Deborah Byrd

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About the Author:

Our Editor-in-Chief Deborah Byrd works to keep all the astronomy balls in the air between EarthSky's website, YouTube page and social media platforms. She's the primary editor of our popular daily newsletter and a frequent host of EarthSky livestreams. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.