NASA/Preston Dyches
- The Perseids meteor shower is often the best of the year, with bright fireballs and colorful tails.
- A planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Mars will also be visible to the naked eye this weekend.
- The northern lights may also make an appearance from New York to Idaho. Here's how to see it all.
The Perseids meteor shower — the summer's biggest celestial event — is finally here, and it's bringing some friends.
Widely considered to be the best meteor shower of the year, according to NASA, the Perseids will be on full display this Saturday and Sunday.
These meteors are leftover bits of dust and debris from comet Swift-Tuttle. As Earth passes through the comet's trail this weekend, the Perseids will burn up in its atmosphere, creating bright, colorful streaks of blue, green, white, orange, purple, and even pink across the sky.
They're known for their long tails that linger, as well as some fireballs — especially bright, explosive meteors that last much longer.
The Perseids can produce about one to two meteors per minute or between 50 to 100 per hour, according to NASA. But you can only catch a show like that under ideal viewing conditions.
Turns out, this year is an especially good time to watch because the moon will set around midnight, leaving the skies dark for ideal viewing.
In addition, those shooting stars will streak alongside Jupiter and Mars, which will appear exceptionally close in the pre-dawn skies this weekend.
Another reason to get outside this weekend is that the northern lights, or aurora borealis, may appear in some northern parts of the US, from New York to Idaho, on Friday and Saturday.
The best thing about all of this? You don't need a telescope or binoculars. This will all be plainly visible to the naked eye.
Basically, the heavens are on full display this weekend, and you don't want to miss it. Here's what you need to know.
How, when, and where to see the Perseids
The Perseids will peak Monday morning, so your best opportunities to see them are overnight on Saturday and Sunday (that is, the wee morning hours of Sunday or Monday).
The meteors will still be visible for a few days before and after the peak, just in much smaller numbers. They're visible all over the world, but the Northern Hemisphere gets the most meteors.
NASA/Bill Ingalls
Choose a spot away from city lights, preferably with wide open skies. Check the weather before you go, as clouds could ruin your view.
Bring a picnic blanket or a reclining lawn chair. Staring directly upward with no neck support becomes uncomfortable more quickly than you might think.
Once the moon sets, around midnight, the sky will be much darker and you'll be primely positioned to see the most meteors. Lay back, give your eyes 20 minutes to adjust to the dark, and enjoy the show.
Resist the temptation to look at your phone — it could undo all the time you've spent adjusting your eyes to the dark.
Catch a Jupiter-Mars conjunction
Jupiter and Mars are creeping close together in the sky, and you can see them if you stay up late enough.
In the early morning hours, starting around 2 a.m., look to the east and turn slightly toward the north. Mars and Jupiter will rise side-by-side between the horns of Taurus, the bull-shaped constellation. They'll appear as two bright stars, with Mars having a reddish hue.
If you don't have a keen eye for constellations, you can find Taurus, Mars, and Jupiter using a phone app like Sky Safari ($4.99 in the App Store) or a website like Stellarium (free).
Though the two planets will be visible together for days, including over this weekend, the conjunction peaks in the early morning hours of August 14.
At that point, you could stretch your arm out and easily cover both planets with your pinky finger, according to Sky & Telescope, a publication of the American Astronomical Society. That's how close Jupiter and Mars will appear.
Out in space, of course, the planets will still be hundreds of millions of miles apart.
Watch the meteor shower live online
If you can't get out of the city, you can watch a live broadcast of the Perseids.
The Virtual Telescope Project will have an online livestream from its all-sky camera in Manciano, Italy, which has some of the country's darkest skies, on Sunday and Monday starting at 9 p.m. ET.