SoCal park among best places to watch Perseid meteor shower as skywatching events converge over California

The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight, and one iconic California park offers dark skies and unparalleled conditions for seeing the year’s best star show.

Yahoo! News has curated a list of five spectacular places in the US to view the Perseid shower, and the sweeping desert setting of SoCal’s Joshua Tree National Park earned it the number five spot.

This year’s conditions are especially favorable as the peak coincides with a New Moon, meaning skies will be at their darkest. 

According to NASA, while the meteor shower can be seen across the US, “visibility should be ideal” for many parts of California, especially Joshua Tree, which is a designated International Dark Sky Park, famed for its vast views and absence of light pollution.

Californians can expect to see 50-100 meteors per hour tonight, with showers becoming visible between 9 and 11 PM.

However, the pre-dawn hours of August 13 are expected to host the highest frequency of falling stars.

While the Perseids peak tonight, the shower will keep on showering through August 24, giving us more time for gazing, albeit with ever-increasing moonlight.

According to Yahoo! News, despite its relative proximity to Los Angeles, Joshua Tree is a perfect point to take in the Perseids, noting that the dry climate keeps haze at bay and clouds at a minimum.

“If you head there for the meteor shower, you’ll get to see the shooting stars against a backdrop of iconic Joshua trees,” said Yahoo!

For those looking to spend the night under the shooting stars this evening, the park campsites are still available, with overnight rates starting at $30.

Bryce Canyon in Utah took the number one slot on Yahoo’s list, followed by Badlands National Park in South Dakota, Black Mesa State Park in Oklahoma, and Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania.

While these US locales will be blessed with a star show, those lucky enough to find themselves within an 180-mile-wide corridor in Europe are primed to experience a triple threat of celestial splendor as a total solar eclipse, a planetary parade and the Perseid meteor shower’s peak will all be visible today.

The phenomenon will also be visible to anybody floating across swaths of the Atlantic Ocean and even an uninhabited region of Russia.

Lucky stargazers located in those places will be in for a cosmic treat, as the total solar eclipse — when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun — will blot out our star’s light and darken the day into twilight.

At the same time, the Perseids will reach their height as the eclipse totality moves across the Atlantic region.

That means eclipse viewers may be able to see shooting stars falling in daylight — normally all but impossible because of the brightness of the sky, but enabled by the false twilight cast by the moon blocking out the sun.

Meanwhile, at dawn today, a planetary parade which includes all six planets save for Venus — was visible before sunrise.

The day’s triple-header review is extremely rare — the last time the Perseids lined up with a solar eclipse was in Aug. 1999, according to the Washington Post, and it is unclear whether a planetary parade has ever happened at the same time.

For the win.

A meteor shower like the Perseids occurs when the Earth’s orbit intersects with the cloud of debris left by an asteroid or comet.

When we collide with that cloud, these glorious remnants, AKA space trash, burn and fall due to the conditions of atmospheric entry. Their immolation creates the glowing trails and fireballs that call the eye up and the mind to awe.

What are the Perseids?

The Perseids are born from the debris field of the Swift-Tuttle comet, which Earth orbits through every August.

Named for the constellation Perseus, a tribute to the Gorgon-slaying Greek hero, the Perseids are among the most reliably active and visible meteor showers and are known for producing fireballs, bright meteors that paint the sky with a glowing trail.

Officials said the fireballs provide large explosions of light and color that last longer than the average meteor streak, which is due to them “forming from larger particles of cometary material.”

“With swift and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long ‘wakes’ of light and color behind them as they streak through Earth’s atmosphere,” NASA said.

As the aforementioned list suggests, Perseids are best viewed under clear skies and away from the ugly interference of light pollution.

Deserts, mountains, and other dark-sky areas offer the best vantage for the meteor shower; online resources including light pollution maps can help you pick the perfect spot.

Experts recommend leaving your telescope or binoculars at home, as it is better to take in the entirety of the sky, rather than a small part.

The meteors can and will appear anywhere, but your best bet is to stare into the darkest part of the sky that your location affords. For best results, lie flat on your back. After roughly 30 minutes, your eyes will adjust to the dark.

Avoid looking at your phone during the meteor shower. It will impair your night vision and disrupt your ancient connection to the above and beyond.

Experts recommend committing to at least one hour of stargazing as there are always peaks and lulls in meteor activity.

Best places in LA to watch the Perseid meteor shower tonight

If you’re based in LA and can’t swing the ride out to Joshua Tree this evening, there are closer options for catching the show.

Chilao Campground, an hour from downtown LA, sits at 5,300 feet and provides exemplary sky viewing.

Meanwhile, Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu offers 1.5 miles of beach; plan to catch the sunset and stay to see the sky darken and the stars fall.

Weather in the Los Angeles area tonight is predicted to be cloudy with high humidity, so a bit of plan pivoting may be called for.

To determine where you should perch for the stellar show and to stay up to date with location-based visibility, apps like Solara provide real-time weather updates and tips for viewing.

Top five places in the US to view a meteor shower

• 1. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
• 2. Badlands National Park, South Dakota
• 3. Black Mesa State Park, Oklahoma
• 4. Cherry Springs State Park, Pennsylvania
• 5. Joshua Tree National Park, California

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters