After the eclipse, a second sky show over Cornwall tonight

Stay up past the eclipse and Cornwall has a second act waiting. Once the crescent sun has set in the west this evening, the same clear sky that everyone is hoping for turns into the best seat for the year’s biggest meteor shower. The Perseids peak tonight, and this time there is no low horizon to fight and nothing you need to hold up to your eyes.

Two shows in one night

This evening’s deep partial eclipse is the early act, low in the west and done by around 8pm. The Perseids are the late one. The shower is active for weeks, from mid-July into late August, but it reaches its maximum on the night of 12 into 13 August. That is tonight. The two events landing on the same date is a coincidence of the calendar, and a lucky one for anyone willing to stay outside.

The meteors come from the trail of dust left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle. Every August the Earth ploughs through that stream of debris, and the specks burn up high in the atmosphere as streaks of light. The Perseids are known for being bright and fast, with the odd fireball that leaves a glowing trail hanging for a second or two after it has gone.

Why this year is a good one

The thing that usually spoils a meteor shower is the moon. A bright moon washes out all but the strongest streaks. Tonight there is a new moon, so the sky stays properly dark from nightfall right through to dawn. Combine that with Cornwall’s clear coastal air, away from city light, and the conditions are about as good as the Perseids get.

Under a perfect dark sky with the shower at its height, counts can reach up to around 150 an hour. That is the headline figure and the real world is gentler. From a decent dark spot in Cornwall you are more likely to catch somewhere between a handful and a few dozen an hour, with the rate climbing as the night goes on. It is a show that rewards patience rather than a quick glance out of the back door.

When and where to look

The meteors appear to stream out of the constellation Perseus, which sits low in the north-east in the evening and climbs higher through the night. You do not need to find it. The streaks can appear anywhere across the sky, so the trick is simply to take in as much of it as you can rather than staring at one patch.

The best window is after midnight and into the small hours, roughly from midnight to around 5.30am, when Perseus is high and your side of the planet has turned to face the incoming debris head on. If you would rather not stay up that late, it is still worth a look once the sky is fully dark from about 10pm, you will just see fewer.

Cornwall has the dark corners for it. Get away from street lights and town glow, onto a clifftop, a moor or a west-facing beach with an open sky, and give your eyes at least fifteen minutes to adjust. Keep off your phone while they do, because one glance at a bright screen resets the whole process. Lie back, wrap up warmer than an August night seems to need, and let the sky come to you.

No glasses required this time

Here is the neat part after an evening of eclipse safety warnings. Watching a meteor shower needs no equipment and carries no risk at all. No filters, no glasses, no telescope. In fact binoculars and telescopes make it worse, because they narrow your view to a tiny patch of sky and the whole point is to see the streaks wherever they fall. The only kit worth bringing is a blanket, something warm, and a bit of patience.

So if the cloud stays away, tonight is two sky shows for the price of one. The county spends the evening watching the sun disappear, then a few hours later the same dark sky starts throwing meteors. Whether Cornwall’s weather plays along twice in one night is, as ever, the part nobody can promise.