The Perseid meteor shower will peak between Sunday and Tuesday, and astronomers say this one could be special.
For one thing, there won’t be any competition from the moon. The moon sets shortly after 10 p.m. local daylight time Sunday in northern latitudes. Secondly, NASA announced this summer that the Perseids are the “fireball champion,” consistently producing more fireballs than any other shower.
The Perseid meteor shower occurs as Earth orbits through the debris of the Swift-Tuttle comet.
NASA predicts the best show will be overnight Monday and overnight Tuesday between 10:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. local time. The rate of meteors will increase as the night goes on, peaking before sunrise, so the longer you can stay awake, the better the show. The meteors will appear to radiate from a spot between the constellations Cassiopeia and Perseus in the northeastern skies.
