Overview
- The summer meteor season is already underway and the Perseids are expected to reach their peak around Aug. 12–13, a timing that several outlets say will coincide with a new moon and exceptionally dark skies.
- Under clear, rural conditions observers could see unusually high rates of meteors — estimates from reporting put peak counts as high as about 100 per hour — plus a heightened chance of bright fireballs.
- Late‑July showers such as the Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids will be harder to see near their peaks because of a nearly full Moon, but those streams still offer viewing on darker nights and can produce memorable fireballs.
- Simple viewing practices will improve sightings: go to a dark site, give your eyes 20–30 minutes to adapt, avoid bright screens, and scan roughly 30 degrees away from a shower’s radiant rather than staring at it.
- The Perseids come from debris shed by Comet 109P/Swift‑Tuttle and typically produce more than 50 meteors per hour under dark skies while overlapping minor showers and sporadic meteors extend observing opportunities through late August.