Right now is the best time of year to gather your family head outside and watch nature's celestial magic at it's best. What am I talking about? The meteors of course! That's right, the Perseid Meteor Showers are already here lighting up the night sky. It's a great excuse for your Family to get outside and get away from the city lights. You can watch the Perseid Meteor shower now through September 1, 2023.
Who's up for a spontaneous science lesson under the stars?
Now, let's take a moment to appreciate our incredible luck nestled in the heart of the Conejo Valley, Malibu, Calabasas, Agoura Hills, Oak Park, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park and Westlake Village. Why, you ask? Because we're sitting in a pretty prime spot where we don't need to embark on a long journey to escape the bright lights and bask in the awesome Perseids. Believe it or not, it's a mere 5 or 10-minute drive – if even that – to find ourselves in a haven of darkness, the perfect stage for this annual cosmic spectacle. I hear that the top places to watch the Perseids, one of which is right here in our own back yard is the Santa Monica Mountains and another, if your up for a road trip is Joshua Tree National Park. So why not treat your kids to a front-row seat in nature's very own cosmic theater? The Perseids await, and they're not holding back!
The Perseids can be seen every year from mid-July through mid to late-August. Typically, the Perseid meteor shower peaks for us Earthbound viewers on August 11, 12 and 13.
Where to watch the Perseids meteor shower locally near the Conejo Valley, Malibu, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Oak Park, Westlake Village and Newbury Park:
- Locally the Santa Monica Mountains are supposed to be a great viewing option.
- Currently the Griffith Observatory doesn't have any event scheduled, but check back for updates.
Fun facts about the Perseid meteor showers
If you have curious kids like mine, they'll want to know exactly what they're looking at and will have a lot of questions. Impress your kids with your vast knowledge of the universe with these five fun facts from Astronomy.com:
- The Perseids are caused by a giant comet 109P / Swift-Tuttle, which left a wide stream of debris in its wake. Earth is passing through that debris. But don't worry – they're small pieces, each about the size of a grain of sand, so they won't hurt us.
- Mid-August is the peak of the Perseids because we will be passing through the densest portion of the debris.
- We see the "shooting stars" - that aren't really stars - when the tiny pieces of dirt and dust hit our atmosphere at a high speed and make a flash of light when they burn up.
- During most nights of the Perseids, you might be lucky enough to see a dozen or two meteors an hour. But during the peak nights, you can expect to see 50-70 per hour, depending on how dark it is around you!
- It's called the Perseid meteor shower because the meteors look like they are coming from the constellation Perseus.
How to see the free show
Where do you look for these little falling balls of light? Just look up! There's not one particular direction to look, but east right before sunrise when the moon is low in the sky will give you the best luck.
The really cool part is you don't need special equipment to see the Perseid meteor showers In fact, it's easier to view it with your naked eye than through the limited lens of a telescope or binoculars.
Bonus: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can all be seen during August. You can read more about spotting them at www.astronomy.com.
The best way to view the Perseids is when the sky is clear and dark and you're away from a lot of light. We're pretty lucky to have so many dark sky viewing options in the Conejo Valley, Malibu and Calabasas like the Santa Monica Mountains. Grab a blanket "lying down gives you the widest view of the sky," then find a safe place to watch and have a blast making memories with your kids. Maybe even bring some snacks if you plan to make a night of it.
Want to know more?
You can find out more about the Perseid meteor shower and all kinds of other cool things about space at:
 photocluster via Canva |
One of my favorite memories of growing up on a farm in Wisconsin was the view of the night sky. We could see so many stars away from city lights. Every so often we would get lucky enough to see a shooting star. Now we live close to town and it's harder to see what's up there after dark. But this time of year is always an exception because of the Perseid meteor shower!
Laura Miller is the publisher of Macaroni KID Appleton-Waupaca-Oshkosh, Wisc.
Updated August 2023 / edited annually by Brenna Gutell, publisher of Macaroni KID Conejo Valley - Malibu - Calabasas
