 It's that time of year again. The annual perceived meteor shower gets underway every August. So if you look up at the night sky tonight, you'll be able to catch one of Earth's most famous cosmic light shows. The shower is the result of our planet getting a little too close to some comet dust. The comet in question is Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun once every 133 years. Whenever Swift-Tuttle swings by the inner solar system, the immense heat from the Sun causes particles to eject from the comet. These particles create a stream of debris that stretches across Swift-Tuttle's orbital path. And once a year, Earth crosses this debris field, causing Swift-Tuttle's leftovers to slam into our planet's atmosphere. The result? A bunch of tiny lights streaking through our sky. So why do we call it the Perseid meteor shower if this is all Swift-Tuttle's fault? It's because these tiny meteors seem to originate from the constellation Perseus. In any given year, you can expect to see around 60 to 80 meteors an hour when the meteor shower is at its peak. But this year, the shower may get a healthy boost thanks to our buddy, Jupiter. Every so often, Jupiter makes its closest approach to Swift-Tuttle's debris field, and its immense gravitational field tugs the particle stream closer to Earth. Typically, our planet just skims the debris, but experts think we'll be even closer to the particles this year. That means we could potentially see up to 200 meteors an hour, according to NASA. The best time to start watching the shower is going to be just after midnight, wherever you are. And you know the drill, if you want to get the best view of a light show in the sky, you're going to need to get away from light here on Earth. So city-goers like myself may want to get to a park. But if nearby light pollution is too intense or there's too much cloud cover, you don't have to miss out entirely. You'll still be able to catch some meteors tomorrow night, and NASA plans to broadcast the Perseids both tonight and tomorrow on its public E-Stream channel, which we've linked below. Happy stargazing! Want to know what it's like to live among these falling stars? Check out our video with NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who just finished up a year in space. And you think watching a meteor shower is cool? Check out what it's like to watch a rocket travel to space and then land back on Earth.
 It's that time of year again. The annual perceived meteor shower gets underway every
 August. So if you look up at the night sky tonight, you'll be able to catch one of
 Earth's most famous cosmic light shows. The shower is the result of our planet getting
 a little too close to some comet dust. The comet in question is Swift-Tuttle, which orbits
 the Sun once every 133 years. Whenever Swift-Tuttle swings by the inner solar system, the immense
 heat from the Sun causes particles to eject from the comet. These particles create a stream
 of debris that stretches across Swift-Tuttle's orbital path. And once a year, Earth crosses
 this debris field, causing Swift-Tuttle's leftovers to slam into our planet's atmosphere.
 The result? A bunch of tiny lights streaking through our sky. So why do we call it the
 Perseid meteor shower if this is all Swift-Tuttle's fault? It's because these tiny meteors seem
 to originate from the constellation Perseus. In any given year, you can expect to see around
 60 to 80 meteors an hour when the meteor shower is at its peak. But this year, the shower
 may get a healthy boost thanks to our buddy, Jupiter. Every so often, Jupiter makes its
 closest approach to Swift-Tuttle's debris field, and its immense gravitational field
 tugs the particle stream closer to Earth. Typically, our planet just skims the debris,
 but experts think we'll be even closer to the particles this year. That means we could
 potentially see up to 200 meteors an hour, according to NASA. The best time to start
 watching the shower is going to be just after midnight, wherever you are. And you know the
 drill, if you want to get the best view of a light show in the sky, you're going to need
 to get away from light here on Earth. So city-goers like myself may want to get to a park. But
 if nearby light pollution is too intense or there's too much cloud cover, you don't have
 to miss out entirely. You'll still be able to catch some meteors tomorrow night, and
 NASA plans to broadcast the Perseids both tonight and tomorrow on its public E-Stream
 channel, which we've linked below. Happy stargazing!
 Want to know what it's like to live among these falling stars? Check out our video with
 NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, who just finished up a year in space. And you think watching
 a meteor shower is cool? Check out what it's like to watch a rocket travel to space and
 then land back on Earth.