The Draconid meteor showers will be peaking tonight!
Although this year's installment of the Draconid showers won't be the most exciting, Astronomy Lecturer Gary Boyle says it won't be too hard to catch a glimpse.
"The great thing too is that you don't have to wait until about two o clock in the morning as per other showers. As soon as it gets dark enough, step outside and look up, and you should hopefully see something. Because the Draco is really between the big and little dipper up in northern part of the sky, so it's accessible as the sky darkens."
Boyle explains what precisely a meteor shower is and why you should look up tonight.
"Meteor showers are bits of debris from comets. In the case of the Dracoinds coming up, it's a very small meteor shower, not too many per hour, only about ten per hour or less as opposed to what we had in the summertime with the Perseids and coming up in December for the Geminid. They are going to very slow-moving meteors, only about 20 km per second, which seems fast but very slow compared to others. Also, the moon will not interfere this year, so anyone outside walking the dog or taking a stroll will squint and notice a meteor or two, it's not a great shower, but any excuse to get out under the stars to look up at the milky way, at the planets and the southwestern horizon is always a good excuse."
The forecast is calling for a partly cloudy evening for tonight's Draconid peak, but don't worry... the Draconids will continue to be visible for the next few days.
