Tonight: Perseid Meteor Shower to Peak

Going out of doors in the daytime may not be very enticing in the midst of the heat wave, but cooler nighttime temperatures have something else to offer: the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, among the calendar year's most prolific. Viewers in Texas will have the advantage of clear skies and an ideal geographic location to witness hundreds of meteors flit across the night sky.

A fun fact: the Perseids are so named because the point from which they appear to originate falls within the constellation Perseus, of Greek mythological fame.

The shower will be visible all night, but will peak between midnight and daybreak, when hundreds of meteors per hour will be visible. So brew that cup of coffee, turn out the lights, and join folks around the world in marveling at the beauty of the night sky.