Perseid Meteor Shower 2017

[Boris13c]

Perseid Meteor Shower 2017: When, Where & How to See It

The peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower is coming in just a few days! According to NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke, the Perseids are perhaps the most popular meteor shower of the year. Typical rates are about 80 meteors an hour, but in outburst years (such as in 2016) the rate can be between 150-200 meteors an hour. The meteor shower's actual peak is around 1 p.m. EDT Aug. 12, which means that the night before and the night after will both have good rates; Cooke said the show would be slightly better in the predawn hours of Aug. 12, but that there'd be a decent show both nights.

In 2017, the Perseids will be a little more difficult to see due to the presence of the moon, which will be three-quarters full and will rise shortly before the shower hits its peak around midnight local time. (Live in a big city? Find out how to see the Perseids from urban areas here from our sister site Active Junky.)

"Rates will be about half what they would be normally, because of the bright moonlight," Cooke told Space.com. "Instead of 80 to 100, [there will be] 40 to 50 per hour. And that's just because the moon's going to wash out the fainter ones."

"But the good news is that the Perseids are rich in fireballs; otherwise the moon would really mess with them," Cooke added.

When to see them?

Earth will pass through the path of Comet Swift-Tuttle from July 17 to Aug. 24, with the shower's peak — when Earth passes through the densest, dustiest area — occurring on Aug. 12. That means you'll see the most meteors in the shortest amount of time near that peak, but you can still catch some action from the famed meteor shower before or after that point.

The moon will be three-quarters full during the peak. Since the moon will rise late in the evening (around roughly 11 p.m.), there will be some interference from its light that will make it more difficult to see meteors.

You can see the Perseid meteor shower best in the Northern Hemisphere and down to the mid-southern latitudes, and all you need to catch the show is darkness, somewhere comfortable to sit and a bit of patience.

[Boris13c]

looks like no meteor watching for me ... forecast in my area is for thunderstorms Friday the 11th through Saturday night on the 12th

I know I can go to the NASA site to see them, but it just isn't the same