LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – The Perseid Meteor Shower tonight August 12 2012 (live streaming video below) will deliver an impressive spectacular for viewers. The Perseid aka Perseids Meteor Shower August 2012 for the 109P/Swift Tuttle comet will reach its peak start time tonight, official remind news. But tonight’s show will be even better than previous years.

As news is reporting today, Perseid arrives ever August periodically creating a media sensation. But this year, a clear sky for most US residents should give a better show than revealed last year. The Perseid Meteor Shower covers August 11, August 12, and August 13, 2012, officials tell news.

The show is the result of the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle that “periodically” passes through our solar system every 133-135 and leaves debris. Each year, families – armed with reclining chair, ground pads, and lots of patience – prepare for the two to three day excitement. But the peak display will be during the predawn morning hours tonight August 12, 2012, NASA tell news.

Perseid Meteor Shower Pictures 2012 Set 1
Meteor Shower Photo 1
Meteor Shower Photo 2
Meteor Shower Photo 3
Meteor Shower Photo 4

As NASA has previously reported, Perseids peaks between August 12 and 13 annually. The number of meteors per hour fluctuates annually, but viewers should see about roughly 50 meteors per hour generally. Viewers should expect a “Crescent moon … set early in the evening, allowing for dark skies all the way up until peak viewing just before dawn… The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most consistent performers and considered by many as [the year's ...] best shower. The meteors they produce are among the brightest of all meteor showers.”

Perseid Meteor Shower Pictures 2012 Set 2
Meteor Shower Photo 5
Meteor Shower Photo 6
Meteor Shower Photo 7
Meteor Shower Photo 8

Stargazers have spectaculars that fluctuate throughout the seasons. But Perseids are consistently impressive, year to year. As Universe Today reported two years ago, it’s a show so good that you “don’t [want to] get meteor neck”. They added that “While Mother Nature can put on a magnificent celestial display, meteor showers rarely approach anything on the scale of a July 4th fireworks show.”

Depending on your location, you can see between fifty and eight meteors during a peak hour. But the peak hour this year will be shortly after midnight on August 12, 2012. That’s generally when the meteor show is “more prolific”, astronomer Phil Randall previously told news.

But could the show be better for 2012?  “We expect to see meteor rates as high as a hundred per hour,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, in a new statement this week.  “The Perseids always put on a good show.”

As with each year, NASA provides live streaming coverage via uStream. That live stream is below.



Live video by Ustream