Look up: Super moon and meteor shower both happening Sunday

Get ready for a show in the sky on Sunday, when a meteor shower and super moon will both light up the Northern Hemisphere.

The annual Perseid meteor shower could entertain us with as many as 100 shooting stars an hour; it's expected to peak between Aug. 10 and 13, then last for one week. The Perseid shower is created when debris from the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet hits the Earth's atmosphere. The super moon, which happens four to six times a year, occurs when the moon is 30,000 miles closer to Earth than usual.

Astronomer Tony Berendsen told ABC News that the best time to see the showers is at 2 a.m. "Because the moon will be incredibly bright in the earlier evening, the smaller showers will not be a match," he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Viewing the meteor shower doesn't require any fancy equipment, Berendsen said. "All you need is your eyes."