Planetary Parade, Meteor Shower Peak: You'll Want To Look Up Wednesday In VA

Wednesday is shaping up as one of the best days of the year to look up at the sky in Virginia, with a planetary parade, the peak of the Perseid meteor shower and, in some places, a solar eclipse all packed into one unusually busy day in the sky.

The big question, as always, is whether the weather will cooperate. Clear skies will matter most once darkness falls and the meteors start flying.

Subscribe

Unfortunately, in Northern Virginia, the current forecast for Wednesday night is cloudy, with a chance of rain. According to the National Weather Service, Wednesday night will be mostly
cloudy, with a low around 70 and a light and variable wind. The chance of precipitation in the form of showers or thunderstorms is 30 percent.

A Predawn Planetary Parade

The celestial tripleheader actually begins before breakfast. Six planets — Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Saturn and Neptune — will be above the horizon before sunrise Wednesday, according to AccuWeather.

Don't expect all six to jump out at you. Mars and Saturn should be the easiest to spot with the naked eye, shining high in the southern sky. Jupiter and Mercury will be low in the east as morning twilight begins, while Uranus and Neptune are faint enough to require binoculars or a telescope.

The Grand Finale, The Perseids

Then comes the nightcap — and probably the main attraction.

The Perseid meteor shower peaks Wednesday night into Thursday morning. The timing is about as good as it gets. A new moon means the sky will be especially dark for anyone who can get away from city lights. Under clear, dark skies, skywatchers could see around 100 meteors or more an hour.

The first meteors should begin appearing shortly after nightfall, with the show picking up later in the night.

The Perseids are beloved partly because they arrive when people are already outside — on vacations, at campgrounds, in back yards, on docks and around late-night fires.

They're known for bright meteors, occasional fireballs and lingering trains—those brief glowing streaks that seem to hang in the sky after the meteor is gone.