Get ready for a celestial show that’s brighter, faster and (mostly) free—if you don’t count the price of bug spray. The Perseid meteor shower, widely considered the strongest of the summer, will hit its peak Tuesday night into the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, August 13. At its best, the Perseids can produce up to 100 meteors an hour, zipping across the sky at a breakneck 37 miles per second.
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This year, though, the cosmos is throwing in a bit of a curveball: an 84-percent full Sturgeon Moon that will wash out fainter streaks. This means you might not see the full “shooting star” spectacle, but bright fireballs—those extra-dazzling meteors that flare and linger—will still make appearances. NASA says even under moonlit skies, you could catch one or two of these every hour during peak viewing.
The Perseids, active from July 17 to August 23, are the handiwork of comet Swift–Tuttle, whose debris trail Earth plows through once a year. These tiny particles (some no bigger than a grain of sand) burn up in our atmosphere, creating those luminous streaks. From our earthly vantage point, they seem to radiate from the constellation Perseus, which is how the shower got its name.
You’ll want to skip the telescope—meteors can blaze across huge swaths of sky, so you’ll want your full field of vision. Find the darkest spot you can, ideally far from city lights and at a higher elevation. Bring a blanket or reclining chair, bundle up (yes, even in August—it gets chilly when you’re sitting still) and give your eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness. Minimize phone use or better yet, switch to a red-light flashlight to protect your night vision. While meteors can appear any time after nightfall, your best odds are between midnight and dawn, when the sky is darkest and Earth is facing into the debris stream.
For those willing to gamble on better conditions, you could also try viewing on August 16 or 17, when the moon will rise later, but meteor activity will be lower. Either way, patience is key; the longer you watch, the more likely you are to see something worth gasping over. And unlike most summer blockbusters, this show comes with zero spoilers: just you, the night sky and the occasional cosmic mic drop.