The 2026 Perseid meteor shower is active from tonight, giving skywatchers a first chance to catch meteors after dark before the show builds to its peak overnight on Aug. 12-13. The timing matters because the brightest stretch of the display lands under the dark skies of a new moon.
For viewers in the U.S., Perseid meteors may be spotted anytime from 10 p.m. onward, but the number of visible shooting stars rises in the hours before dawn. At peak, up to 100 shooting stars an hour may be visible, according to the American Meteor Society, a rate that would place this shower well above a typical night when only a handful of meteors may appear to a casual observer.
The best chance comes after getting away from city lights and giving your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust to the dark. The meteors seem to streak away from a radiant near Eta Persei in the constellation Perseus, and the most obvious path is to locate Perseus above the northwestern horizon after dark, then look about 40 degrees above it.
That window is better than last year, when moonlight drowned out all but the brightest shooting stars. This year is expected to be a stark contrast, with the shower visible under darker skies and the Perseids known for vivid green fireballs and trails that can flash across the sky at speeds of up to 37 miles per second, or 59 kilometers per second.
There is one small wrinkle. A Perseid could brighten the false twilight triggered at the climax of the Aug. 12 eclipse, but only if a large fireball-producing meteoroid happened to strike Earth’s atmosphere during the path of totality, an unlikely coincidence. For most observers, the real event is simpler: the Perseid meteor shower is underway now, and the next date to watch is Aug. 12-13, when the peak should be at its best. Related coverage: Perseid Meteor Shower Tonight: peak set for 12-13 August 2026 and Perseid Meteor Shower Peak Set for August 13, 2026, With Best Views at Night.
