Peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower: Here”s How to Watch

Some experts believe the best time to see the shower will actually be just before dawn rather than in the middle of the night.

Where is the best place to watch it? The peak of the shower coincides with a moonless night, which makes it an ideal time for stargazers, campers, or astronomy lovers as there would be no moonlight to obstruct the event.

The 2015 Perseid meteor shower began July 13 and runs through Aug. 26, with activity peaking around Aug. 12 and 13.

The Perseid meteor shower this week is set to impress.

Instead, it’s the Earth passing into the cloud of particles the comet leaves behind and those particles interacting with our atmosphere. This year, it will peak Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Earthgrazer meteors are rare but most exciting and memorable, if you happen to spot one.

When the celestial show hits its peak overnight on Wednesday next week, up to 100 shooting stars per hour will streak across the sky for a spectacle visible around the globe.

The Perseid Meteor Shower is a magnificent dust trail from the Swift-Tuttle comet and NASA have tipped it a must see.

“If you can get outside the city, the darker the sky the better”. Try to keep your gaze on the sky for as long as possible, many people have missed that ideal meteor when they looked away. It is even surmised that if the conditions are ideal, observers may be lucky enough to see up to 100 shooting stars in just an hour of skygazing.

National Space Agency (Angkasa) research officer Mohd Redzuan Tahar said the Perseid meteor shower occurred from the tail debris of 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet which entered the earth’s atmosphere at a speed of approximately 212,500 km/h.

A multiple exposure picture taken in the early hours of August 11, 2013, shows a Perseid meteor shower in the sky, near the municipality of La Hiruela, on the mountains of the Sierra Norte de Madrid in Spain.

The further away you are from bright lights, glow of the city and urban areas, the better. The meteors will appear to originate from the direction of the constellation, which is meant to resemble the Greek hero Perseus, but in reality they share no connection to the Perseus constellation.