The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks Tuesday night, and if you are lucky you could see upwards of 100 "shooting stars" per hour. Derek Van Dam assesses viewing conditions in the U.S.

The Perseid meteor shower is reaching its peak, providing an opportunity for skywatchers to observe one of the most prominent annual meteor displays. Viewers in areas with clear skies and minimal light pollution may see up to 100 meteors per hour, especially if they look toward the northern sky and avoid the brightness of a full moon.

The broadcast also clarifies the distinctions between meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites, highlighting a recent event where a meteorite landed in the southeastern United States and was found to be older than Earth itself. Observers are encouraged to find a dark, open space for optimal viewing and to enjoy the spectacle with family or friends.

How to watch the annual Perseid meteor shower

annual Perseid meteor shower will light up the sky when it peaks at roughly 4pm Eastern time, which is what, 9pm London time tonight, Derek Van Dam, so I might have a good chance of seeing it. Yeah, you're going to have pretty decent chances there in London, but I don't think the 4pm is going to work out too well for people. It might be a bit too daylight. Look, Chrissy, there is just so much nostalgia wrapped up in this story for me, and I've got to share this story because when I was a child, I would set up the chairs in my backyard with my parents to go watch this annual spectacle in the sky known as the Perseid's meteor shower, and so I have fond memories of this, and you could do it too. I remember seeing this as a child. You look into the north sky. There's what is called a radiant. That's the area where the majority of the meteors kind of spread out in all directions across the sky, and unfortunately, there are a few things working against us. I'll explain that in just a second, but this is what it looks like if you get lucky enough to be outside of the city and away from the full moon. That just happened. Shooting stars here are just quite the sight when you wish upon a falling star, right? We tell our kids that a lot, and so do I, and they're just that wonderful, right? And this is why we're talking about it, because the Perseid's meteor shower peaks tonight through tomorrow, and we could see up to 100 of these per hour if you're looking at the right time of the night and in the right direction as well as the conditions playing along with you. Obviously, the sky cover has a major factor in this, so the eastern part of the U.S. not looking too good, but the central and western half of the U.S. looking fantastic. So what's the difference between a meteoroid, a meteor, and a meteorite? Well, a meteor, which you'll see tonight, is actually a rock entering the Earth's atmosphere but burns up before it reaches the ground. A meteorite is actually surviving the Earth's atmosphere, and it hits the ground just like what happened in the southeastern United States earlier this summer. Do you remember the fireball that we talked about that impacted north Georgia into the U.S. state of South Carolina, lit up the daylight sky? Well, that rock actually punctured a hole in somebody's roof in north Georgia, and they sent away this extraterrestrial rock to a laboratory, and they just found out that that rock is older than the Earth itself, 4.56 billion years old, in fact, according to the scientists that studied this rock that fell out of the sky, this meteorite. And it's just really incredible, Christina, to think about where this originated and how it came to find its way here in southeastern United States. So, meteorite, that's what the one that falls through the Earth's atmosphere lands on the ground. I feel like I'm in class learning with you every moment. Derek, appreciate it. And I love that personal story. You've inspired me to sit out and try and see what I can see tonight. Thank you.

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