Perseid Meteor Shower 2016: Jupiter Will Be Visible in the Sky? When, Where and How to Watch?

Perseid meteor shower is one of the most splendid celestial events in calendar of astronomy and this year's meteor shower is expected to be the biggest one. The skies of Britain will be light up by the spectacular meteor shower in the evening of Thursday, August 11 and in the morning of Friday, August 12.

There are two notable reasons why this year's Perseid meteor shower will be spectacular. According to the website Space.com, it has something to do with the moon and Jupiter. Since the moon will be 63-percent illuminated before Thursday, it will set at an earlier time around 1:00 AM on Friday while the dawn will break at 4:20 AM. Basically, there will be a total of 3.5 hours where the sky gets totally dark. Second, the gravitational assist from the Jupiter will be the cause of the outburst that is far from normal.

According to Bill Cooke's statement, an Astronomer from NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office in Huntsville, under perfect condition the outburst will double the normal rates during the nights of August 11 to 12. He added that it will be a perfect treat for stargazing as 200 meteors will come whopping every hour.

According to Mirror, Northern hemisphere is the best place to watch Perseid. However, one must be able to keep up late or wake up early in the morning to catch up the amazing celestial event of the year. The display will be spotted best at 1:00 AM and before the onset of dawn twilight. Stargazers are advised to accustom their eyes within 20 minutes of darkness.

Perseid are said to be pieces of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle's tail. It was named after a constellation called Perseus which is the point where they appear as bright streaks of light whopping across a clear night sky.