It’s time for one of the year’s brightest and most popular meteor showers to grace the skies. The Perseid meteor shower has been underway for weeks, but peaks Wednesday night into Thursday, offering spectacular views amongst the stars.
What makes this shower so special? NASA says the meteors frequently leave “wakes” of light and color behind them and are rather plentiful, with 50-100 meteors per hour.
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And one other thing: the Perseids meteor shower can also include fireballs — larger explosions of light and color that persist longer than an average meteor.
Where and how can you see the shower?
NASA says the meteor shower is best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere during pre-dawn hours. However, it noted that at times it’s possible to view the shower as early as 11 p.m. CT.
For the best experience, Space.com says to head somewhere with dark skies, away from city lights. It recommends giving yourself 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness, avoiding screens and other light sources before the shower starts.
The shower is also best viewed with the naked eye, so avoid using telescopes and binoculars.
As for where to look, the Perseids appear to come from the constellation Perseus, but you don’t need to look directly at the constellation for the best view. Rather, Space.com says to look 45 degrees away from the constellation.
What is the Perseids shower? How does it work?
The annual Perseids meteor shower happens when Earth passes through a debris trail left behind by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. When Earth passes through, it causes cometary material fragments, some no larger than a grain of sand, to slam into Earth’s atmosphere.
Upon colliding with Earth’s atmosphere, they burn up and create the brilliant streaks of light known as meteors or shooting stars.
The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best celestial shows of the year.
— US Department of the Interior (@Interior) August 6, 2026
Every August, this shooting star spectacle lights up the sky as Earth passes through a trail of debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle.
Video of a night sky time-lapse at Oregon Islands National Wildlife… pic.twitter.com/iKk0HONndo
Foreign countries get an even more spectacular sight
If you happen to be out of the country, specifically Spain, Portugal, Greenland, Iceland or even northern Russia, the meteor shower could be made even more spectacular by a total solar eclipse.
A total solar eclipse happens when the Sun, Moon and Earth align, and the Moon passes in front of the Sun. It could allow folks to see the meteor shower in particularly darkened skies, when all you can see of the Sun is a ring of fire around the Moon.
In the U.S.? Don’t fret – you can still check out the shower; there just won’t be a solar eclipse along with it.
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