Perseid meteor shower visible in Scotland tonight: Where and when to watch

Not one, but two cosmic events are happening tonight, as the perseids meteor shower will be seen across the skies later.

Stargazers across Scotland are gathering to witness the rare partial total eclipse, which peaks at 7pm tonight.

The extremely rare event will occur when the moon passes directly in front of the sun, plunging Scotland into near-darkness for a brief time.

But sky-watchers will be treated to another cosmic event happening a little bit later on.

What is a Perseid meteor shower?

Every summer, the Earth hits a trail of debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet as it orbits the sun.

Specks as small as a grain of dust flare up under the pressure of the planet’s atmosphere and create shooting stars and a long trail of light and colour.

Perseid is considered the best meteor shower of the year and peaks in mid August.

Perseids are also known for their fireballs, which are larger explosions of light and colour and bigger than the average meteor streak.

Where can I see the meteor shower?

As with the eclipse, the chances of spotting tonight’s meteor shower will depend largely on cloud cover.

Tonight the thickest cloud remains across the north and west, across the Western Isles, north west Highlands, and parts of Argyll and Bute – so there is a very small chance of spotting the meteors here.

Further south and east it will be fine and clearer with medium to high level cloud.

So for the likes of Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, the central belt and stretching up through the east coast, there is a slightly higher chance.

As with any stargazing, location is important on the ground too. Stay away from built up areas with light pollution so that even the fainter meteors are visible.

When to watch

The Perseids are active from mid-July until August 23 this year.

But tonight it’s at its peak.

Stargazers can start spotting the phenomenon in the early evening, with the best time to see the Perseids between midnight and 5.30am.

Professor Colin Snodgrass from the Institute for Astronomy in Edinburgh said: “Hopefully the clouds stay away for both the eclipse in the evening and the meteor shower at night!

“Meteor numbers will tend to peak after midnight and into the early hours, with up to one a minute visible from a dark location away from city lights.

“They will all appear to come from the constellation Perseus, but will be visible across the whole sky – just look up!”