The Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight—and Could Produce Up to 100 Shooting Stars Per Hour

Stargazers are in for a treat this evening! One of the most exciting celestial events of the year—the Perseid meteor shower—reaches its peak tonight, August 12, according to EarthSky.org.

When viewing a meteor shower, you are seeing pieces of comet debris that heat up and burn as they enter the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in bright bursts of light streaking across the sky. According to NASA, the Perseids occur when Earth passes through the debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. 

The Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak when Earth travels through the densest and dustiest part of the comet debris. Per NASA, stargazers can typically see an average of 50 to 100 meteors per hour during this time. These meteors travel at an average of 37 miles per second, making it one of the best meteor showers of the year.

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The Perseid meteor shower has been active since July 17 and will continue until August 23, but it reaches its peak tonight, August 12, into the morning of August 13. The shooting stars are best viewed from the Northern Hemisphere during the pre-dawn hours, though it is possible to see them as early as 10 p.m.

Unfortunately, this year's peak takes place just three days after the full Sturgeon Moon , so the moonlight may make it difficult to spot fainter meteors, with only the very brightest shooting stars visible.

According to NASA, the Perseids' radiant (where the shooting stars appear to originate from) is in the Perseus constellation in the northeastern sky. Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which they appear to emanate. Though Perseus isn't the easiest to find, it follows the brighter, more prominent constellation Cassiopeia, which is known for its "W" or "M" shape that's formed by five stars.