Are the meteor showers tonight?

Question

i think i saw a shooting star, so i want to know if there are meteor showers tonight!

Answer 1

Meteor showers are not short-term events, they can last for days or even weeks.

The Perseid meteor shower occurs between July 17 and August 24, with the peak at 3:04 UTC on Aug 12. Most meteor showers have peaks that last at least a few nights.

As long as you are at a dark location away from bright lights, and you simply watch the sky (look towards the constellation Perseus in the northern sky, but meteors can be seen over the entire sky) you should see many meteors any night this week. The estimate of the number of meteors during the peak for the Perseids is around 60 per hour.

The best time to view any meteor shower is after local midnight.

Answer 2

The peak was this morning but you should still be able to see some residual meteors over the next few nights. Keep looking up.

http://www.imo.net/calendar/2008

This is the calendar site for the meteor showers for 2008 from the International Meteor Organization. Everything you ever wanted to know about meteor showers is on this site. When 2009 gets here, change the date on this link and you will have the new 2009 listing too. This way you wont miss any meteor showers ever again. Enjoy!

Answer 3

The Perseid meteor shower had its peak of 60 meteors per hour around 2-4 am last night.  (I was clouded out.)  However, this shower lasts for close to two weeks, just not as active as at maximum.  There are also a couple minor showers currently, which each provide about 4 meteors per hour.  Most nights of the year, except for a brief period in December and January, have at least one shower going on, and frequently there will be as many as six.  But few provide more than a few meteors per hour.