This Week’s Rare ‘Black Moon’ Makes This Week The Best Of 2019 To See Falling Stars & Milky Way

The next 10 days will comprise of no less than 3 meteor showers, quite a prime time to possibly spot some shooting stars and even catch sight of the Milky Way.

Not only will we be in for a spectacular sky show, but the sky will go rather dark – this is due to the ‘black moon’.

This occurs when two new moons happen in the same month, which causes one of the most spectacular solar eclipses in South America.

Exclusive to the Americas with a new moon which will occur on July the 31st for America and August the 1st for the rest of us.

The Perseids shower, which is caused by debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet will peak on August the 12th, moving at a rather high speed.

Something interesting to note is that if you follow the tail of the comet back to it’s source, you will see the constellation they originate from, with perseids falling from the constellation Perseus.

Jay Huang / CC BY 2.0

How to see the Perseids meteor shower, anytime until about August 6/7

The Perseids meteor shower is usually the easiest to see every year.

While it peaks on August 12th, the bright First quarter moon might make it a little harder to watch in 2019, so try spot some shooting stars around August 6th before the moon is too bright.

The Perseids constellation is in the North East, so try keep an eye in this direction.

The best thing to do is find a rather dark location like a national park where residential lights are to a minimum.

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