When and Where to See Shooting Stars

A lot of people have a seen a shooting star sometime in their life, whether it be a faint one or a very bright one. It's always an exciting experience to be gazing up when suddenly a magnificent colored streak of light goes by. And, if you haven't seen any, you've probably wished to see one sometime.

This article is for those who have never saw one and wish to, or those who have seen some but want to see more.

But, before we talk about that, what is a shooting star? First, another definition:

A meteoroid is a basically space debris orbiting the sun. They're essentially just rocks that were leftover from the creation of the solar system. They range in size from the size of a grain of sand to the size of a large boulder. Most meteoroids orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter, in the Asteroid Belt.

That being said, a shooting star (which aren't actually moving stars, as such a name might suggest) is what you see when some hapless meteoroid finds itself flying towards Earth and eventually going through its atmosphere. The meteoroid is going so incredibly fast (somewhere between 20,000 MPH to 135,000 MPH) that the friction heats up the air in front of it, causing it to almost look like its glowing.

That is what we see when we see a shooting star (or, under its proper name, meteor): the air in front of the meteoroid.

A grain of sand sized meteor will create a faint but visible meteor. A pea sized one can create a fairly bright meteor. That is to say, the larger the meteoroid, the more spectacular the meteor.

By now you're probably thinking "Okay, enough of that, how do I see one?"

Well, as a general rule, you'll see more if you're in a practically light pollution free area. Without light pollution, you'll also see way more stars, probably more than four times the amount (depending on where you live), not to mention planets and satellites. But, in this article, those aren't of interest. If you go out on any given night where there isn't any light pollution, you're almost guaranteed to see a few if you're out for a few hours. But, of course, most people don't have the patience, and yes, it is an inefficient way.

Since we can't know when individual meteors will be visible, the very best way to see meteors is during a meteor shower (which you won't be able to see if it is cloudy). There are over 60 a year, but only a few are worth seeing.

Now, you probably mistaken on what a meteor shower is, so here is a quick clarification: when most people think "meteor shower," they imagine thousands of meteors streaking across the sky to the point where you're barely able to see the actual sky anymore. On rare occasions this has happened, such as the Leonid meteor shower of 1833, but this is practically never the case. Most meteor showers only produce 2 to 3 meteors per hour. The best meteor showers of the year tend to produce about 120 an hour (two per minute).

The next notable meteor shower is the Gemenids which peak on December 14th, and there are also the equally strong Quadrantids peaking on January 3rd. After that you'll have to what until May 6th were the Eta Aquariids take center stage.

The best time for viewing will be anytime between 2 AM and dawn on the peak date, no matter where you live.This author, through experience, can tell you that for best viewing, set an alarm clock to wake you up around 3 AM, go to bed a little earlier than usual (one hour earlier, maybe), put on layers as to not get cold, and after you're done beholding the magnificence of meteors (I suggest being out for about an hour), go back to bed. Binoculars or telescopes won't help you, because meteors move too fast.

Meteors showers are named after what constellation they mostly appear around. So, Leonid meteors are mostly around Leo, Gemenids mostly around Gemeni etc. Meteors can and will be visible in other parts of the sky, so don't just look in the direction of the constellation; look in the places around it, too.

Or, for the best viewing, take something you can lie down on and look directly up at the top of the sky. This way, assuming nothing is obstructing your view, you'll be able to see the entire sky, and any meteors will immediately get your attention.

Oh, and one last thing: you don't have to worry about where the meteor lands! They almost always burn up in the atmosphere, and on rare occasions where there's a meteoroid in the atmosphere the size of a refrigerator, only a tiny bit makes it to the ground.

Happy meteor hunting!