Wish Upon A Star Texas: How To See The Year’s Showiest Meteor Shower

There is something so incredibly sublime about a starry night in Texas, especially if you can find yourself in a more remote part of the state.

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If you've been longing for those majestic night skies, tonight and tomorrow night are great opportunities to see a fantastic show in the night skies.

When to See the Brightest Meteor Shower in Texas

According to KBTX News, the Perseid meteor shower is at its peak tonight and tomorrow night (August 12th and 13th). The Perseid meteor shower is the showy display made by debris from the Swift-Tuttle Comet.

The best times to see the meteor shower are in pre-dawn hours. However, because the moon is in a Waning Gibbous state (that is, still fairly full after a full moon), visibility of the shower will be reduced.

Best Places in Texas to Watch the Meteor Shower

The best places to see the meteor shower in Texas will be places with unobstructed views (that is, less trees, buildings, etc.) and places with less light pollution. So, if you can drive out to a ranch or farmland, that may be your best bet (with permission from the landowner, of course!).

A National Park like Big Bend could be a great option, too.

What Makes This Meteor Shower the Brightest of the Year

The Perseid meteor shower is one of the showiest celestial displays of the year. According to NASA, the shower is so spectacular and so visible for a few reasons.

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The Swift-Tuttle Comet puts off a lot of debris, so that is a lot of material to create these nighttime "fireworks". The comet creates "plentiful showers with about 50 to 100 meteors seen per hour."

Additionally, the comet debris tends to put off fireballs, which are bigger explosions of light and color that tend to last longer than other meteor streaks.

Whether you're staying up very late (or getting up early), make sure ot at least glance up at the night sky, even if you don't head somewhere remote. You might just find a shooting star to wish upon.