If you step outside Saturday or Sunday night, you may catch a glimpse of the Perseid meteor shower.
According to Melody Cox, the coordinator of The Muse science museum in Knoxville, the science behind a meteor shower is really pretty simple.
"A meteor shower is essentially space dust, comet dust more specifically," Cox said. "The earth in its orbit passes through the dust."
Cox said the shower is a result of a specific comet called the the Swift-Tuttle. According to Space.com, it's one of the largest known objects to pass earth often.
“They hit the atmosphere, and that causes friction, and that heats them up, and when they get really, really hot they get really, really bright," Cox said. "So you see those shooting stars effect.”
But there's one thing that makes this shower in particular a bit different.
"It's going to be even darker during this meteor shower because it’s a new moon,” Cox said.
For those planning to catch a peak of the bright lights, Cox suggests moving as far away from city lights as possible.
“You want to go to an area that has little to no light pollution, and light pollution is the bright city lights that wash out all the star light at night," she said.
You can start looking for bright lights after 11 p.m.