The Perseids are one of the brighter meteor showers of the year. They occur every year between July 17 and August 24 and tend to peak around August 9-13.
Made of tiny space debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle, the Perseids are named after the constellation Perseus. This is because the direction from which the shower seems to come in the sky lies in the same direction as Perseus. The Perseids are widely sought after by astronomers and stargazers because most years at its peak, one can see 60 to 100 meteors in an hour from a dark place.
Although there will be a bright moon in the sky, it should still be possible to see upwards of 30 meteors per hour over the night of Monday, August 12th. So we will host a ‘viewing party’ kicking off about 10pm, in our beer garden. We will have blankets available, and will offer mugs of soup, hot chocolate, mulled wine and cider, and maybe some sweet treats to eat while you wait and watch.
No need to book your place, just come down to the pub around 10pm. Families welcome (it’s the school holidays, so no reason not to let the kids stay up).
For more on the Perseids, and an interactive sky map so you know where to look, see here:
https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/perseid.html
