The Perseid meteor shower is set to appear Aug. 11 through 12 this month, a peak time for avid stargazers.

“The most active #meteor shower of the year is coming,” Space.com posted to its Facebook Page along with a video.

NASA TV described the Perseid meteor shower as a display of “shooting stars” lighting up in the sky.

About The Perseids Show

Every August, the Earth goes through a trial of debris left behind from a comet. When the Earth is closer to the debris than usual, like this year, a meteor shower appears.

Back in 2009, people saw the last Perseid outburst. An outburst is a meteor shower with more meteors than usual.

“Forecasters are predicting a Perseid outburst this year with double normal rates on the night of Aug. 11-12,” Bill Cooke, with NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office in Huntsville, Alabama, tells NASA TV. “Under perfect conditions, rates could soar to 200 meteors per hour.”

Comet Swift Tuttle

The comet Swift Tuttle orbits the sun every 133 years, leaving debris each time it swings through the inner solar system. When Earth crosses the paths of Swift Tuttle’s debris, specks of comet particles hit Earth’s atmosphere making it look like flashes of light.

“These meteors are called Perseids because they seem to fly out of the constellation Perseus,” NASA writes.

“Here’s something to think about. The meteors you’ll see this year are from comet flybys that occurred hundreds if not thousands of years ago,” Cooke said. “And they’ve traveled billions of miles before their kamikaze run into Earth’s atmosphere.”

Watch The Perseids Show

Go outside between midnight and dawn on the morning of Aug. 12 to catch the Perseid meteor shower. NASA suggests that you give your eyes 45 minutes to adjust to the dark, lie on your back, and look straight up.

Live Stream of The Perseid Meteor Shower

A live broadcast of the Perseid meteor shower will be available over night on Aug. 11 to 12, and Aug. 12 to 13 beginning each night at 10 p.m, EST.

Watch the broadcast via Ustream TV

The Live stream is great for people who are experiencing cloudy or polluted skies and would not be able to clearly see the meteor shower otherwise.

Dangers of Meteoroids

The Perseids show’s meteors burn up 50 miles over Earth, posing no threat to the planet. The meteors travel at 132,000 miles per hour, which is 500 times faster than the fastest car on Earth.