How and where to watch the meteor shower next week from the Triangle

Looking up at the heavens and gazing at shooting stars can feel lonely. This coming week, you can join fellow Triangle stargazers to watch the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks Aug. 11-13.

• On Sunday, look through telescopes at Dorothea Dix Park from 9-11 p.m. with volunteers from the Raleigh Astronomy Club, the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, and the Chapel Hill Astronomical and Observational Society. The Triangle Sax Club will play music; bring a lawn chair. Register for the free event here.
  
  
• On Monday, visit the Duke Teaching Observatory from 8:30-10:30 p.m. The observatory is a field in the Duke Forest with telescopes set up by Duke faculty, staff and students. Get directions at their website. Children are welcome.
  
  
• On Tuesday, if you prefer to look at nature without being in the middle of it, visit the roof of the Durham Hotel from 9-11 p.m. for the tail end of the shower with staff from the Morehead Planetarium. DJ Mic Check will play music starting at 8 p.m. Register for the free event here.

At the meteor shower’s peak around 2 a.m., you can see 60 to 70 meteors an hour without the help of a telescope or binoculars. By that point you might want to be in your backyard, facing north for the best views.

You can also use this map of light pollution in the U.S. to find nearby dark areas.

“The later it gets in the evening and the darker it gets, the more meteors you’ll be able to see,” said Doug Lively of the Raleigh Astronomy Club. “If you really love nature and beauty, this is a perfect opportunity to get out with the community and do something a little different.”

The meteors you see zooming across the sky are motes of dust burning through the atmosphere. Every August, the Perseids happen when the Earth passes through a debris cloud of dust and rocks left by the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun every 133 years. November brings the Leonid meteor shower, and in December you can watch the Geminid meteor shower.

The Raleigh Astronomy Club will host events for these later showers; more information is on their website. The Duke Teaching Observatory runs open house events twice a month. The Morehead Planetarium hosts skywatching parties monthly.

This story was originally published August 8, 2018 at 6:01 PM.