Topline<\/p>\n
The annual Perseid meteor shower<\/a> \u2014 one of 2026<\/a>\u2019s celestial highlights<\/a> \u2014 officially begins today, kicking off one of the most anticipated astronomical events of the year. Active from July 17 through August 24, the Perseids are renowned for producing bright, fast-moving meteors and spectacular fireballs as Earth passes through debris left behind in the inner solar system by Comet 109P\/Swift-Tuttle. While meteors will be visible throughout the coming weeks, all eyes will be on the night of August 12-13, when the shower reaches its peak under what astronomers say could be near-perfect viewing conditions.<\/p>\n August 12, 2021 – A composite showing about three dozen Perseid meteors over Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. A dim magenta aurora is visible to the northeast at left. Cassiopeia is at centre above the radiant point; the Andromeda Galaxy is just right of centre. Capella is rising at left. Airglow also tints the sky. Accumulated over 3 hours of time, compressed into one image showing the radiant point of the meteor shower in Perseus.<\/p>\n gettyKey Facts<\/p>\n The Perseids are active from July 17 through August 24, but the shower reaches its peak on the night of August 12\u201313.<\/p>\n The meteors are created by tiny fragments left behind by Comet 109P\/Swift-Tuttle, which burn up in Earth\u2019s atmosphere at around 37 miles per second (59 km\/s), according to the American Meteor Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n With a new moon during the 2026 peak, astronomers expect one of the best Perseid displays in years, with up to 100 meteors per hour possible under dark skies.<\/p>\n The Perseids will peak just hours after a total solar eclipse<\/a> visible from Greenland, Iceland and Spain, while a partial solar eclipse will be visible across Western Europe and much of North America \u2014 including parts of the U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n A Summer Favorite For Stargazers<\/p>\n The Perseids are among the most dependable meteor showers of the year. For 2026, the timing is perfect, with a new moon ensuring exceptionally dark skies during the peak. \u201cIt happens in the middle of the summer in the Northern Hemisphere, so it\u2019s warm and it\u2019s nice to sit outside, as opposed to the Geminids during mid-December,\u201d said Dr. Nick Moskovitz at Lowell Observatory<\/a> in an interview. \u201cIt\u2019s a nice activity to do near the end of the summer \u2014 and it\u2019s an incredibly reliable shower.\u201d<\/p>\n Up To 100 Meteors Per Hour Expected<\/p>\n Under ideal dark-sky conditions, observers could see between 60 and 100 meteors per hour, with activity increasing after midnight and peaking before dawn. \u201cWe expect that to be the case this year, with something like 100 meteors per hour, which is a healthy amount, and about 10 times above the normal static background that you would get on any other night,\u201d said Moskovitz. The Perseids also signal the beginning of one of astronomy\u2019s busiest periods. \u201cIt\u2019s also the start of meteor-shower season, which begins with the Perseids and then goes through various other showers, including the Geminids in December.\u201d<\/p>\n How To Watch The Perseids<\/p>\n The best viewing will be after midnight through the hours before dawn on Aug. 13, when the constellation Perseus rises higher into the northeastern sky. Although the meteors appear to radiate from Perseus, they can streak across any part of the sky, so a wide, unobstructed view is ideal. For the best experience, head to a location away from city lights, allow your eyes around 20 to 30 minutes to adapt to the darkness, and leave telescopes and binoculars behind \u2014 the Perseids can only be enjoyed with the naked eye.<\/p>\n How To See The Solar Eclipse Hours Before The Perseids<\/p>\n Although the total solar eclipse will be total only from Greenland, Iceland and Spain, Europe and North America will still get a partial eclipse<\/a>. The best views from North America will be in eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S. St. John\u2019s, Newfoundland and Labrador will see 53% of the sun covered, Halifax 31%, Saint John 28%, Qu\u00e9bec City 24%, Boston 16% and New York 10%. Anyone viewing the partial phases must wear ISO 12312-2-compliant eclipse glasses. Cameras, binoculars and telescopes require securely fitted solar filters on the front of their optics. Skywatchers relaxing between observing the solar eclipse and the Presides will be able to look for very bright Venus, which will reach 50%-lit and enter its crescent phase as it comes closer to Earth, making it a great target for a small telescope. It\u2019s also an ideal night to look for the Milky Way in the south.<\/p>\n Further readingForbesPerseid Meteor Shower Returns This Week Under An \u2018Earthshine\u2019 MoonBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesTuesday\u2019s New Moon Sets Up A Total Solar Eclipse In 29 DaysBy Jamie Carter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline The annual Perseid meteor shower \u2014 one of 2026\u2019s celestial highlights \u2014 officially begins today, kicking off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1094763,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3844],"tags":[137957,15709,298891,90961,298890,298892,70,15708,413,36189,298893,16,15],"class_list":["post-1094762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-astronomy-news","tag-fireballs","tag-meteor-shower-today","tag-perseid-meteor-shower","tag-perseids-2026","tag-perseids-peak","tag-science","tag-shooting-stars","tag-space","tag-stargazing","tag-swift-tuttle-comet","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116935113158917979","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1094762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1094763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1094762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1094762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1094762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}