Technologies

Perseid meteor shower 2021 peaks this week: How to watch the sparkling show

The Perseids will peak on Aug. 11 in the US, but you can catch them blazing across the sky right now. Here’s how.

The Perseid meteor shower, a stunning celestial display, delivers eye-opening shooting stars that can be seen blazing over Earth. We can thank debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle for the spectacle. You don’t want to miss the shower, and here’s how you can see it as it ramps up.

According to NASA, the annual Perseids are active from now through Aug. 24. The space agency says it’s «considered the best meteor shower of the year.» Meteor activity will peak on the night of Aug. 11 and morning of Aug. 12, though NASA also calls out the night of Aug. 12 and morning of Aug. 13 as another great skywatching opportunity.

«The meteors are best viewed from the northern hemisphere, and in ideal conditions with no clouds observers could see up to 50 an hour,» the Royal Astronomical Society said in a statement about the peak, which will be on the night of Aug. 12 for the UK and Europe. The moon will be staying low-key, giving watchers a nice dark sky to work with.

The Perseids are popular for their reliability and the potential for spectacular fireballs. «The Perseids are one of the most plentiful showers (50 to 100 meteors seen per hour) and occur with warm summer nighttime weather, allowing sky watchers to easily view them,» said NASA in a Perseids explainer geared for the Northern Hemisphere.

On July 26, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center shared an image of a streaking Perseid meteor spotted by a camera at the Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona.

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Fireballs can happen when larger pieces of comet debris strike the atmosphere, creating long, bright streaks, the kind that make you say «Whoa!» Ready to get excited? Check out these photos from last year’s shower:

Catch a shooting star

At its simplest, viewing the meteor shower is just about heading out at night and looking up, but there are some steps you can take to improve your chances at catching a good show. You’re in luck if you’re a super-early riser. The pre-dawn hours are a prime viewing time, but NASA also says you can see the meteors as early as 10 p.m. local time.

Some of the biggest obstacles to good meteor viewing are cloudy weather and light pollution. Aim for a clear night and try to get away from city lights. A hammock, blanket or a chair that leans back will save you from craning your neck. Give your eyes plenty of time to adjust to the darkness.

You can spot the meteors anywhere in the sky, though they get their name because they appear to be radiating from the constellation Perseus. To find Perseus, check out a stargazing app that will help you locate the constellation. Perseus isn’t the actual source of the shower, but it can be helpful in tracking down the sometimes elusive streaks of light.

Watch a livestream

The Virtual Telescope Project will host a livestreamed Perseids viewing session on Aug. 10 at 5 p.m. PT. «This year, the sky conditions will be perfect, with no moon interference,» said VTP founder Gianluca Masi in an announcement.

NASA will offer a livestream hosted by the Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The streams kicks off at 8 p.m. PT on Aug. 11 on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

You don’t have to wait for the mid-August peak to enjoy the action. A dark spot on a clear night can deliver a worthwhile viewing experience throughout the Perseids’ visit. Catch those shooting stars while you can.

Follow CNET’s 2021 Space Calendar to stay up to date with all the latest space news this year. You can even add it to your own Google Calendar.

Technologies

Your Favorite Patreon Creators Will Soon Be Able to Livestream From the Platform

The new tool lets artists go live, chat and share content all within Patreon.

Patreon, the service that lets artists and creators provide exclusive content to subscribers, is launching a new tool that enables creators to livestream natively on the platform.

The company said the feature intends to let creators connect with their audiences in real time, whether it’s an author hosting a Q&A about a newly published book or musicians testing out new music for their fans.

The tool directly competes with similar offerings on platforms like Twitch, but a focus on creator-owned communities and fewer distractions.

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«Until now, creators have had to go live on platforms that weren’t designed to prioritize their businesses,» the company said in a statement. «We’re changing that: because it’s built directly within Patreon, creators won’t need to compete with crowded feeds, distracting ads, or anything else that gets in the way of connecting creators with their core fans.»

Some can access feature this week

Creators will be able to go live via the Patreon mobile app or desktop, with options for free or paid member access, allowing them to tailor streams for audience growth or earnings, according to the company.

The platform is also adding a live chat for real-time conversations, emoji reactions that appear over the video player and moderation tools that let creators set the tone for their communities.

Creators will also have the option to share livestream recordings with fans who missed the event or download the videos for use on other platforms.

Patreon said some creators will receive early access to the feature as soon as this week with a wider rollout planned for later this summer.

Will Patreon creators use it?

«It’s interesting, but I won’t be using this yet,» said Luke Westaway, content creator, Patreon user and former CNET senior editor.

Westaway says he values consistency for his subscribers.

«I do weekly livestreams on YouTube just for Patrons which they access via an embedded player in a Patreon post, and in my experience Patreon subscribers value consistency and predictability in their content and I’m very cautious of anything that switches up how they access it,» he said. «That said, there are some features you just can’t do on YouTube, like the promised ability to sell streams after the fact as one-time VOD purchases, which could be cool.»

Westaway has an established account, but he acknowledges new users might feel differently.

«If I was just launching a Patreon today, I might be inclined to commit to it, but for now I think I just have to wait, watch and see if it works and if Patreon still seems committed to it in 12 months,» he said.

Technologies

Zoom Is Down, According to Multiple Reports from Users

Video chat and meeting platform Zoom has been experiencing outages for many users today.

Following widespread outages for Spotify users on Wednesday, numerous users report that the online meeting service Zoom is also down. As of Wednesday midday Pacific time, Zoom’s website, support page and email client also weren’t available.

While these issues are currently preventing many Zoom users from making it to their meetings, it’s not clear what has gone wrong with the service or why it is so widespread. On Downdetector, complaint reports are highest for the website and app, followed by login attempts.

Users from Michigan, California, Texas, Nevada and New Jersey have all commented online that they are unable to use Zoom at their locations.

When CNET reached out to Lacretia Nichols, product communications and content lead at Zoom, she responded, «Thanks for reaching out. We are aware that some users are experiencing an outage. We are investigating and will provide updates.»

We’ll also keep you updated here if we notice any significant changes.

Technologies

How to Watch Fortnite’s Big Star Wars Celebration Live Stream

Will there be a full Star Wars-themed season of Fortnite? We’ll be watching this livestream with great interest.

Star Wars has seemingly returned to Fortnite. Following weeks of rumors that the hugely popular battle royale shooter Fortnite would be doing an entire season of content themed around a galaxy far, far away, it may soon be official.

On Wednesday, the official Fortnite account on X (formerly Twitter) revealed the game would be making a special announcement at the Star Wars Celebration in Japan on Saturday, April 19. While the Star Wars-centric season wasn’t confirmed in the post, it did tease «what’s coming next to Fortnite.»

There’s no specific time for when this Star Wars-Fortnite announcement will be made on Saturday, so if you’re interested in checking it out, stay tuned to the official Star Wars YouTube page, where all the Celebration livestreams are typically hosted.

Disney, LucasFilm and Fortnite creator Epic Games didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Is Fortnite Chapter 6, Season 3 based on Star Wars?

While this announcement seems to make things official, a Star Wars season of Fortnite has been rumored for a while now, based on claims from some of the game’s more trustworthy leakers.

On March 26, FNBRIntel claimed on X that Chapter 6, Season 3 of Fortnite would be entirely Star Wars-centric and feature «New POIs based on the series, new mythics & skins, and the storyline should connect to it in some way.» Other leaked info claims this new content will be focused around the original trilogy of movies, so sorry to be the bearer of bad news for all the Clone Wars fanatics and Reylo stans out there.

If you’re not familiar with Fortnite, then try bonding with the 10-year-olds in you life a bit more, as they have much to share on the subject. But what you need to know most is that a typical «season» can last a few months. It might seem strange for a game like Fortnite, well-known for featuring almost every IP ever created, to focus on one property for that long, so leaks have also indicated that Chapter 6, Season 3 will only last for about a month, running from May 2 to June 8.

Disney, LucasFilm and Epic Games have a history of working together, with Star Wars content and characters prominently featured in the game throughout the years. Most notably — and befuddlingly — a major canon story development key to the 2019 movie, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, played out exclusively in Fortnite.

Are any other Star Wars games coming to Star Wars Celebration?

As the name makes clear, Star Wars Celebration is a celebration of all things Star Wars, so you can bet your bottom credits that there will be more video game news than just a Fortnite collaboration. Earlier this week, Electronic Arts announced that Star Wars: Zero Company, a new turn-based strategy game from Respawn Entertainment and Bit Reactor, would be shown off at Celebration on April 19.

Respawn is the studio best known for creating the Titanfall shooter series and its battle royale spinoff, Apex Legends, as well as the acclaimed Star Wars: Jedi series. Bit Reactor is an upstart developer committed to strategy games featuring veteran talents that previously worked on the XCOM and Civilization franchises.