I love the natural world, and since I was young I've always been extremely interested in astronomy and the sky. The idea of a meteor shower was always very exciting to me, but because they always happened far after I went to bed, I never considered them a possibility to see until I got a little older.

Last year was the first year I ever saw a shooting star. After I saw on social media that last year’s Perseid Meteor Shower would be the best in many years, I wanted to try and see it. My sister and I put down blankets, loaded on the bug spray, and went outside to look for meteors shooting across the night sky.

We were lucky enough that the reports were true; the meteors were many and beautiful and we watched them for about an hour before we headed to sleep.

The Perseid Meteor Shower is a popular yearly event to watch, when the Earth’s orbit puts us in the path of the comet “Swift-Tuttle”. This comet lets off tiny trails of space particles that we recognize in our own sky as classic "meteor shower” meteors.

This year, the peak of this phenomenon is the evening of August 11th into the 12th, and this year is projected to be even better than last in terms of frequency of meteor. 2016 is an “outburst” year, and astronomers are predicting double the hourly rate of visible shooting stars to be seen at 200 meteors per hour.

After having observed from last year and reading up on it this year, I found that the best way to view the shower is to start by taking a complete break from the electronics for a while. It takes the eyes a little less than half an hour to fully adjust to focusing on the night sky, and looking at a screen takes away from such adjustment and makes it harder to see the flashes of light.

Make sure the area in which you are viewing the sky is dark too; if you can’t see the stars because of the lights, you won’t see the meteors.

Unfortunately, if it’s a cloudy night, you will have a very difficult time seeing the stars, if any. The best time to go out and try and see them is between midnight and dawn, so pay attention to the weather during this time of night to plan ahead.

Even if you’ve never gone out to watch them before, because it is just easy observation, even the most amateur of aspiring astronomers can enjoy without a telescope. This shower is the perfect activity for young or old, couples or families, or even someone who prefers time alone. It’s relaxing, it’s beautiful, and it really removes you from the present, its concerns, and technology. It’s an experience that’s just good in itself, and because the Perseid Meteor Shower this year is predicted to be so spectacular, you can’t miss it!