Annual Perseid meteor shower to invade the South Carolina sky

The annual Perseid meteor shower started on July 14th and will reach its peak on the nights of August 11th, 12th and 13th.Photo byBill Dickinson

Take a long look up in the night sky through the next few weeks and you just might be in for a treat with the annual Perseid meteor shower over South Carolina.

The annual Perseid meteor shower is one of the best meteor showers of the year, especially because the shower peaks on summer nights.

The 2024 edition will produce the greatest number of meteors on the mornings of August 11th, 12th and 13th, according to earthsky.org.

But don’t wait. You can start looking now.

The 2024 Perseid meteor shower has already begun the steady rise to its peak and every clear night that we get is a good night to see them in the Palmetto State. We're about a week into it, and it will just get better as we near the peak dates.

Earth is passing through the path of Comet Swift-Tuttle with the showers peaking when Earth passes through the densest and dustiest area of the comet. That means we'll see the most meteors in the shortest amount of time near that peak, but you can still catch some action from the annual meteor shower before or after that point.

The Perseids are one of the most plentiful showers with the potential to see 50-100 meteors per hour at its peak and occur with warm summer nighttime weather, allowing sky watchers to easily view them.

The best time to view them August 11th through August 13th. Luckily for us, the shower is more visible in the Northern Hemisphere. But, it does require staying up late, and a clear view of the sky. The showers are best seen around 2am but can be visible as early as 9pm It can be seen until just before dawn.

Comet Swift-Tuttle is the largest object known to repeatedly pass by Earth; its nucleus is about 16 miles wide and Earth passes through the dust and debris field that it leaves behind every year.

Enjoy the show.