Overview
- The Perseid meteor shower reached its annual peak overnight on Aug. 12–13, 2026 when Earth passed through debris from comet 109P/Swift‑Tuttle.
- This year's peak fell close to a new moon and came hours after a total solar eclipse over parts of Europe and the Arctic, producing unusually dark skies that improved faint‑meteor visibility.
- NASA hosted a live watch party using Marshall Space Flight Center’s Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatory and observers across the Northern Hemisphere reported bright meteors and occasional fireballs, including a dash‑cam capture over Istanbul earlier in the week.
- Forecasts from astronomy groups placed ideal rates at roughly 50–100 meteors per hour at very dark sites, but actual sightings depended heavily on local cloud cover, light pollution and the radiant’s elevation.
- The shower will remain active through Aug. 24 though counts will taper after the peak, and observers are encouraged to watch after midnight toward dawn, seek dark open skies, give their eyes 20–30 minutes to adapt and report notable fireballs to monitoring bodies such as the American Meteor Society.