Aug. 11, 2020: If your tire of social media grumbles, creation might have an alternative for you the next couple nights.
The Perseid meteor and fireball shower is at its best tonight and tomorrow night and it was pretty fantastic last night. NASA estimates an average of 50 to 120 meteors per hour, but in my experience you can go up to 10 minutes without seeing a thing and then see 4 in two seconds. The Perseids are especially known for their long slow colorful fireballs that streak clear across the sky every so often…slow enough you can blink a couple times and they’re still going. I include a shot of the only fireball I captured last night, and my phone camera couldn’t pick up all the smaller meteors. but I include a shot taken by another photographer. To watch them tonight, find a dark, starry patch of sky after 10PM (even better after 2PM). (It was 4PM last night before the clouds cleared at our house) Lie on your back and look up about halfway between the horizon and overhead. They are going all directions.