Tribune photographer John J. Kim’s time-lapse video of the moon rising over Chicago last night is just a preview of what’s to come.
Those who enjoy watching the skies will see two events take place: A supermoon will compete with the Perseid meteor shower to light the night.
The Perseid meteor shower will peak on Thursday night into the early hours of Friday, according to the American Meteor Society, though it has been active for weeks with star-gazers spotting Perseids as early as late July.
Meteor activity will continue to increase leading up to Thursday, and its peak will coincide with a full supermoon. The moon will rise as the sun sets Thursday and its light will wash out many of the dimmer meteors, significantly reducing the number of shooting stars to 10 to 20 per hour “at best,” according to NASA.
This will be the last supermoon of this year’s trilogy; the last two were in June and July. It’s expected to look bigger and brighter than the regular moon and will not be seen again until July 2023.
The best weather conditions for watching the Perseids and the supermoon are predicted across much of the West Coast, the central Plains and around the Great Lakes.