Oleg Kuchurivsky
Perseids August 2024.
Bob King
Corona aurora and Perseid meteor, August 2024.
Want to connect with the cosmos? Let your mind wander to the farthest reaches of the universe? One of the easiest ways is staying up late to watch a meteor shower. And there’s no better or easier shower to see than the Perseids. Every August they sprinkle down from the heavens, adding zip and sparkle to the night. Perseids get their name from Perseus the Hero, a constellation in the northern sky that neighbors Cassiopeia’s W. All the shower’s meteors stream from a point in Perseus called the radiant.
Often called “shooting stars,” meteors are actually glowing trails of light etched by bits of rock that range in size of sand grains to peas. Despite their size, they’re moving at more than 130,000 miles an hour − 236 times faster than a transcontinental jet − so they pack a punch. When a meteor particle strikes the atmosphere, it compresses and heats the air in its path to around 3,000° Fahrenheit. This cooks the cosmic crumb until it ultimately vaporizes. At the same time, it’s moving so fast it excites the air around it to glow, creating a brief streak of light that makes us look up and holler “Wow!”
Chilly Origins
Stellarium with additions by Bob King
Perseids meteor stream from a point, called the radiant, in the constellation Perseus just below Cassiopeia’s W. The map shows the sky around midnight facing northeast the night of the shower.
The source of these cosmic spitballs is comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which circles the sun about every 133 years. Comets are composed of ice, dust and rock fragments. I like to compare them to the snow turds or fenderbergs of compacted ice and dirt that gum up our wheel wells every winter. Each time 109P passes near our star, solar heating vaporizes some of the dirty ice. That material spreads out along the comet’s orbit like someone walking down a street carrying a leaky bag of flour.
Every August, the Earth, orbiting the sun at about 66,500 miles per hour, intersects the comet’s orbit, and we slam directly into the shed material. One after another, rock fragments hit and burn up in the atmosphere to create the annual Perseid meteor shower. The shower begins in late July and lasts until late August, but the peak – when we’ll see the most meteors – occurs on Wednesday night, August 12-13. From a moonless rural sky up to 80 meteors per hour may be seen. Closer to town about half that number are visible. This should be an exceptional year for the shower because the moon is new and won’t interfere.
When and Where to Watch
Will Wietoff
A brilliant Perseid fireball flares across the sky over Port Wing, Wisconsin during a previous shower.
To watch, all you’ll need are your eyes, a comfy chair, and warm clothing. Mid-August nights can be cool and humid, so dress in layers or tuck under a wool blanket. I use a reclining lounge chair and adjust the angle so I get a wide-open view of the sky. What direction to watch? All are good! Although Perseids originate from a single spot, they splay across the entire heavens. My suggestion is to look in the direction which is least affected by city light-pollution.
You can start watching as soon as it gets dark around 10 p.m. local time. However, the radiant will be low in the northeast, so you won’t see as many meteors compared to 11 p.m. or midnight, when Perseus stands higher in the sky. The best time is from midnight till the start of dawn. Pick whichever window works for you and give the shower a good hour. Importantly, have no expectations. Meteor-watching is a mix of quiet meditation punctuated by moments of excitement.
You’re out in nature at night. Savor the sounds, smells, and sights unique to darkness. I hope you fall under the shower’s spell and find it impossible to tear yourself away until you see just one more.
Bob King
Total lunar eclipse April 15, 2014.
Deep Partial Lunar Eclipse
The full moon will undergo a deep partial eclipse the night of August 27-28 visible across the Americas including the Great Lakes region. At maximum, Earth’s shadow will cover about 96% of the moon. Partial eclipse begins at 9:33 p.m. Central Time. Maximum eclipse, when the moon will be deepest in shadow, occurs at 11:13 p.m. Partial eclipse ends at 12:52 a.m. No special equipment is needed to view a lunar eclipse, although binoculars add a 3-D effect by showing the darkened moon suspended among the stars.
Best night sky sights for August and September 2026 Events
(a.m. indicates the event happens in the morning sky. Times are Central Daylight)
August 4 – Moon shines above Saturn tonight.
August 5 (a.m.) – Moon in last quarter phase. Shines high in the south at sunrise.
August 9 (a.m.) – Waning crescent moon to the left of Mars this morning.
August 11 – Slender lunar crescent in conjunction with Mercury low in the eastern sky an hour before sunrise.
August 12 – New moon. Partial eclipse visible in the Lake Superior region. The eclipse begins at 11:41 a.m. and ends at 12:46 p.m. Use a safe, undamaged, approved solar filter to watch it, and NEVER look directly at the sun.
August 12-13 – Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight! Good meteor activity from 10 p.m. until dawn.
August 15 (a.m) – Mercury and Jupiter will be in close conjunction just one full-moon-diameter apart very low in the eastern sky about 45 minutes before sunrise. Use binoculars.
August 15 – Crescent moon shines below Venus at dusk. Look low in the west 45 minutes after sunset.
August 19 – First quarter moon shines low in the south at sunset.
August 27 – Full Sturgeon Moon rises around sunset in Aquarius the Water-carrier and shines all night. Go to https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/ to find your local moonrise time. The moon undergoes a deep partial lunar eclipse tonight, with 96% of it covered by Earth’s shadow. Partial eclipse for the region begins at 9:33 p.m. Maximum eclipse is at 11:13 p.m., and the partial eclipse ends at 12:52 p.m. Lunar eclipses are completely safe to view without eye protection.
August 30 – Waning gibbous moon shines above Saturn tonight.
September 2-12 – China’s Tiangong space station makes nightly passes at dusk across the southern sky. It looks like a bright star moving from west to east across the southern sky. For a complete list of flyovers for your city, log in to Heavens-Above.com, select your location and then click the blue Tiangong link.
September 4 (a.m.) – Moon in last quarter phase. Shines in the south at sunrise.
September 6 (a.m.) – Waning crescent moon shines above Mars this morning.
September 7-29 – The International Space Station makes 1-2 passes nightly across the evening sky. It looks like a bright, yellow “star” moving from west to east. For a list of flyovers for your city, go to Heavens-above.com and click the ISS link. Or download the SpottheStation app.
September 8 (a.m.) – Thinner crescent shines above Jupiter this morning.
September 10 – New moon.
September 18 – First quarter moon shines low in the south at sunset.
September 22 – Autumnal equinox at 7:05 p.m. marks the start of fall.
September 26 – Full Harvest Moon. The moon rises only 15-20 minutes later on successive nights around this date. Also, it shines above Saturn tonight.
Bob King, author and educator, fell in love with the night sky and astronomy when he was a kid. He’s a community educator and writes for Sky & Telescope Magazine. Bob also pens the long-time blog Astro Bob he started in 2008. He lives in Duluth, Minnesota, with his wife and has two adult daughters. Bob enjoys chasing the aurora, observing comets, and cross-country skiing.
