The Pereid Meteor Shower Is Ramping Up

[Buster's Uncle]

The Most Popular Meteor Shower Of The Year Is Ramping Up. Here’s Everything You Need To Know About The Perseids
Renee Straker
The Weather Channel
Tue, July 29, 2025 at 1:27 PM EDT
3 min read





The warm summer nights are an invitation for you to enjoy what’s considered the best meteor shower of the year – The Perseids.

It’s one of the most popular celestial events among skywatchers, but if you’re not familiar, here’s everything you need to know about it and the best way to view the show.

The Perseids are named after the constellation Perseus. While the constellation is not the source of the meteor shower, it tells you the radiant – the area of the sky where you’ll see the Perseids appear.

The Perseus constellation is located in the northern sky and can be seen from most locations in the Northern Hemisphere and even some in the South.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the constellation is visible year-round, from about 40 degrees latitude and above, never setting below the horizon, according to Space.com.


Where Do The Perseids Come From?

The Perseids are meteors, pieces of space debris from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, discovered in 1862, according to NASA.

As the Swift-Tuttle goes around the sun, it leaves a trail behind. The Earth passes through that trail every year, and when the debris enters our atmosphere, it burns up, creating the fiery streaks across the sky.


Why Are The Perseids So Popular?

The Perseids are popular because they’re plentiful. NASA says you can see about 50 to 100 meteors per hour, and they often leave long streaks or “wakes” of light and color behind them.

Then there are the fireballs – these are larger, brighter explosions of light that also last longer than the usual meteor streaks.


The Cool Down

The abundance of shooting stars even inspired the late singer-songwriter John Denver to write “Rocky Mountain High.”

Denver said that during a Colorado camping trip to watch the Perseids in 1972, “it was literally raining fire in the sky,” giving birth to the line, “I’ve seen it raining fire in the sky” in his iconic song.


When To Watch

Right now may be the perfect time to see the Perseids, even though the meteor shower peaks in mid-August.

That’s because the moon is only about 25% full, so it isn’t too bright and won’t outshine all those shooting stars.

The Perseids shower peaks on Aug. 12-13, when our planet passes through the dustiest part of the debris trail, but this year, the full moon could make it harder to see.

The moon is expected to be 84% full on Aug. 12 and the American Meteor Society says that could reduce visibility of the meteor shower by 75%.

The Perseids will be visible through Aug. 23.


How To Watch

To make sure you get the most out of your sky watching, experts say you can head outside as early as 10 p.m., but the best viewing hours are typically after midnight, but before dawn.

You want to get as far away from artificial light as you can, and give your eyes time to adjust to the dark (so put your cellphone away for a while).

The best viewing is in the Northern Hemisphere and you can see the meteor shower with the naked eye, so just pack your patience and enjoy.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/most-popular-meteor-shower-ramping-172710967.html

[Geo]

Yeah, not going to be a good time to see meteors showering the skies.

[Buster's Uncle]

I've missed the moon, three sunsets running, at that...

[Geo]

I've missed the moon, three sunsets running, at that...

Funny you would say that.
The moon is getting high enough up in orbit again (as seen from my skyline) to be observable above the treeline.
I was thinking of pulling out my telescope for the evening.

[Buster's Uncle]

Well, see, that's the bad seeing I told you about.  Tree take away over half the sky in summertime.

[Geo]

No luck. As it was getting dark enough, the clouds came in from the west.
Oh well, at least my telescope is aligned again.

[Buster's Uncle]

Day four, still whistling Space: 1999 theme, still no moon.