How, When and Where to Watch the Perseid Meteor Shower in the Stateline

An amazing sky show is in store for for Stateline residents this week.

The Perseid meteor shower has been lighting up the skies at night since July 17th and will continue through August 24th, but will peak on night of Thursday Aug 11th.

According to Space.com, NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke says the Perseids are considered the most popular meteor shower of the year. In 2016, the annual Perseid display will be in "outburst" in 2016, which means they'll appear at double the usual rates.The highest rate since 2009.

Cooke says:

This year, instead of seeing about 80 Perseids per hour, the rate could top 150 and even approach 200 meteors per hour

So, if the weather cooperates on Thursday night, we could be in for an awesome sky show.

Northern Illinois University is hosting a special meteor shower viewing party with instruction in conjunction with the NIU observatory through it's NIU STEM Outreach program on Thursday evening.

The event will begin at 6:30 and end at 10:30pm. On hand will be experts who will discuss the meter shower and hot astrophysics topics.

The main show will begin after the sun sets and participants will view the night sky. If you have a telescope you are invlited to bring it along, if not, NIU will provided telescopes for the public to use.

If you go:

• Date: Thursday August 11
• Time: 6:30pm - 10:30pm
• Location: Bilss Creek Golf Course, 1 Golfview Lane, Sugar Grove, IL 60554
• Cost: Free

Guest speakers include:

• Jeremy Benson, NIU STEM Educator who will discuss what is visible and what causes a meteor shower?
• Gregory Alley (NIU Observatory Manager) will talk about "near Earth objects"
• Shane Larson (Northwestern University Astrophysicist) will discuss black holes and gravitational waves

More information on the meteor shower