The Perseids will keep stargazers up late next week as the meteor showers are expected to light up the sky Aug. 12-13.
According to experts, the meteor shower will be best viewed in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday though some of the shooting stars may be visible as early as 10 p.m. on Tuesday.
For the best view, find a place where you can see the dark sky without the interference of artificial light.
At its peak, the shower is expected to bring up to 100 shooting stars per hour, and the meteors are known to produce bright fireballs. Perseids leave long wakes of light and color behind them as they streak through the Earth’s atmosphere, according to NASA.
The Perseids are one of the most popular meteor showers of the year.
There is one potential spoiler this year: the gibbous moon, which is predicted to be 84 percent full. The bright moon will rise a few hours before midnight on Aug. 12 and has the potential to compromise the shower at a time of maximum activity, according to the American Meteor Society.
“The glare of the moon is really a killer, and that is just going to make the Perseids not all that compelling this year,” said Nick Moskovitz, a planetary astronomer, in an interview with NPR.
The shower began on July 17 and will run until Aug. 23. You may be able to view meteors this week, though there won’t be nearly as many as there will be overnight on Aug. 12.
Meteors come from leftover comet particles and bits from broke asteroids. When comets come around the sun, they leave a dusty trail behind them, NASA reports. When the Earth passes through the debris, they collide with the atmosphere to create the fiery magic.
If this year is a bust, 2026 should make up for it.
Next year’s forecast calls for an unusually large number of meteors, and the moon should be dark, offering better opportunities to view the colorful streaks in the sky in mid-August.
“That one will be worth staying up for, I think,” said Moskovitz. “That one could be hundreds of meteors per hour.”
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Crystal Graham
