A spectacle of three meteors will grace our skies this weekend
Looking for something spectacular to brighten up a cold, dark winter night? Well, this weekend might just have something in store: not one, not two, but three meteor showers active at the same time—combining to provide a celestial fireworks display for most of the night. While the best nights to watch are Saturday evening, July 30, until dawn on Sunday morning, all three rains will be nearing their peak levels starting tonight. So you’ll have plenty of opportunities to catch the show while avoiding bad weather or other commitments. Best of all, there will be a new moon, which means there won’t be a lot of glare ruining the show. What is a meteor shower? The solar system is full of debris left behind from the formation of the planets more than 4.5 billion years ago. Some of this debris – comets and asteroids – move in orbits that cross Earth’s path around the sun. Every time those comets and asteroids swing toward the sun, they release debris. For hundreds or thousands of years, thei