Video courtesy of Slooh. Visit Slooh.com to snap and share your own photos from this live event, and interact with our hosts and guests, and personally control Slooh's telescopes.

The Slooh online observatory will stream live views of the Perseid meteor shower tonight (Aug. 12) beginning at 7 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT).

Hosted by Slooh astronomer Paul Cox, the show will feature live views of the annual "shooting star" display at its peak as experts discuss the astronomical event. You can watch it live in the window above, courtesy of Slooh, or directly via Slooh's YouTube channel.

Full story: See the Perseid meteor shower in a free Slooh webcast tonight

Slooh's next mission is to livestream a free public Star Party featuring the spectacular Perseids Meteor Shower. Slooh will feature live streams of the meteors using special low-light video cameras from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, the Sharjah Academy for Astronomy, Space sciences & Technology, and several other locations.



The Star Party commences on Wednesday, August 12th, starting at 7 PM EDT (23:00UTC). The general public can watch live on Slooh's Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube channels. Slooh members can personally join the Star Party at Slooh.com using Zoom to interact with Slooh's experts.



Slooh Astronomer, Paul Cox, said: "The Perseids are usually the most popular meteor shower of the year. Slooh members gather together from around the globe to watch the live feeds in awe and wonder as fragments of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle vaporize spectacularly as they enter Earth's atmosphere traveling at an astonishing 133,200 mph (60 km per second)!”



About the Perseids Meteor Shower



The Perseids Meteor Shower isn't the most prolific of the year, but it is one of the most popular and reliable. Warm August nights make meteor watching for Perseids a Summer celestial treat. Meteor watchers can expect rates up to 50-75 meteors per hour under ideal conditions.



Each Perseid meteor we see is a tiny particle released by a comet named 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The comet returns to the inner solar system every 133 years, and it's an absolute litterbug - leaving a trail of debris in its wake. When the Earth passes through this trail, some of the particles (meteoroids) enter Earth's atmosphere and vaporize in a breathtaking display often called a "shooting star".



Meteor showers are best seen with the naked eye - you need to see as much of the sky as possible. But Slooh uses specialist low-light video cameras to capture this fiery celestial event.



The comet particles, called meteoroids, are relatively tiny given the display they put on when they vaporize - most are the size of a sand grain, although a few are pea-sized. The debris field is sparse - very sparse. The meteoroids, drifting through space and gradually dispersing, are about 60-100 miles apart.



The shower is named after the constellation of Perseus, which is the shower's 'radiant'. All Perseid meteors will appear to be traveling away from the radiant, although they can appear anywhere in the sky.



Meteor watchers have been thwarted by bright moonlight on many occasions, and this year, the 37% Waning Crescent Moon will interfere a little during pre-dawn hours. However, we should still witness a fine display using Slooh's specialist ultra-sensitive video cameras.

Event Timing for Wednesday, August 12th, 2020:

Live Stream Commences: 7 PM EDT ¦ 23:00UTC

Live Stream Ends: 11 PM EDT ¦ 03:00UTC



TO WATCH Slooh’s live coverage:

https://www.slooh.com/shows/video-viewer/673



SHARE the Facebook Live event from Slooh’s Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/SloohLive/

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