Hanoians eager to see Perseid meteor shower early Friday morning

(VNF) - Residents of Hanoi will be able to watch the Perseid meteor shower from 1am to 2am on this Friday, with the number of meteor sightings expected to double, compared to last year.

According to NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke, the Perseids are perhaps the most popular meteor shower of the year. They will be in "outburst" in 2016, which means they'll appear at double the usual rates.

"This year, instead of seeing about 80 Perseids per hour, the rate could top 150 and even approach 200 meteors per hour," Cooke said. It's the first such outburst since 2009.

The meteors will seem to originate from the constellation Perseus, which appears on the horizon at about 10 pm local time. However, the most meteors will be visible after midnight.

On the night of August 11^th, the moon's light will interfere with the Perseids, but it will set at about 1 am on August 12^th, NASA's Jane Houston Jones said. So the best time to look for them will be after moonset, she added.

"Meteor-shower observing requires nothing but your eyes; you want to take in as much sky as possible," Cooke advised. "Go outside in a nice, dark sky, away from city lights, lie flat on your back and look straight up with your choice of beverage and snacks and things like that."

He added you have to plan for at least a few hours outdoors — at the very least, it will take about 30 minutes for your eyes to adapt to the dark, and most showers only reveal their splendor in time.

And here are amazing shots by stargazers of Perseid meteor shower in 2013, provided by space.com:

Minh Phuong ( space.com )