Overview
- The shower is expected to reach its peak overnight on Wednesday into Thursday, Aug. 12–13, when Earth passes through the densest part of the Swift‑Tuttle debris stream.
- Space agencies disagree modestly on rates but agree conditions are favorable: NASA says up to about 100 meteors per hour under perfect dark skies while the American Meteor Society estimates roughly 30 to 50 per hour from rural locations.
- Observers should plan to watch after midnight from a dark, open site, give their eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adjust, and avoid telescopes or phone screens because meteors can appear anywhere across the sky.
- Local visibility will hinge on weather, cloud cover, wildfire smoke and light pollution, and some viewers in the eclipse path may see meteors during totality; NASA will stream live views for those who cannot go outside.
- The Perseids come from comet 109P/Swift‑Tuttle, which orbits the Sun about every 133 years with its next close return not due until 2125, and the shower has been observed for more than 2,000 years.