Perseids 2025: How to watch the year's best meteor shower despite full moon? NASA's secret tips
Perseids
meteor shower will reach its peak next week but skygazers and space enthusiasts may be disappointed as astronomers say it won't be as visible as it has been in recent years. The Perseids shower is considered one of if not the best of the year, mainly due to it being summer in the northern hemisphere, when the skies tend to be clear (unless there's smoke) and the weather is warmer.
A full moon is also expected during the peak — August 12 into the 13th — and will likely wash out the view, according to NPR.
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Will you be able to watch Perseids meteor shower?
Sky watchers might be facing a major obstacle in your attempt to observe this year's Perseid performance, namely, the moon. The Perseids remain one of the best meteor showers each year, but stargazers will have to deal with another bright object in the sky obscuring their view as the shower reaches its max in 2025, according to space agency NASA.
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NASA has warned that a waning gibbous Moon will brighten the skies as it rises on the nights of August 12 and 13, when Perseids are most active this year. Skywatchers in the Northern hemisphere could see fewer than half the number of meteors usually seen on a dark summer night during the shower's peak.
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'The average person under dark skies could see somewhere between 40 and 50 Perseids per hour,' said Bill Cooke, lead for NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office. 'Instead, you're probably going to see 10 to 20 per hour or fewer, and that's because we have a bright Moon in the sky washing out the fainter meteors.'
"A few bright meteors may still be seen in the predawn hours, but viewing conditions are not ideal," NASA said.
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Getting the best look of Perseids shower
This year, the Perseids began on July 17, and it will be visible until August 23, NASA says. In an hour, one could see about 25 meteors. Characteristics of the Perseids include bright fireballs and long "wakes," the streak of light and color that follow meteors.
While NASA recommends trying to catch a glimpse of the Perseids before dawn, you may be able to see some meteors as early as 10 p.m. They are most visible in the Northern Hemisphere.
Though Perseids show up throughout the nighttime hours, the best chance to see them will be between midnight and dawn – or, even more specifically, 2 and 3 a.m. local time, according to NASA.
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'You're not going to see Perseids around suppertime,' Cooke said. 'You're going to have to go out later.'
When you do venture out, aim for a safe, rural spot with a wide view of the sky. If you can see plenty of stars, chances are, you'll see Perseids – but remember Cooke's other piece of advice: 'Look anywhere but at the Moon.'
Robert Lunsford, an observer with the American Meteor Society, recommends facing north and settling in.
"Don't go outside and stand," he told NPR. "You'll get really tired and bored quick. Get a nice lounge chair where you're comfortable."
And be patient. "Sometimes you go 10, 15 minutes without seeing anything, and all of a sudden, four or five will show up in the same minute. So they're notorious for appearing in bunches like that," he said.
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Why do we have Perseids?
The Perseid meteor shower may be an annual event for Earth, but the comet responsible for the meteors hasn't been near our planet in decades. The meteors are debris from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which last visited our region of the solar system in 1992.
As the Earth makes it way around the Sun, it passes through the debris trail left by the comet. These space remnants collide with our atmosphere and disintegrate to create fiery and colorful streaks in the sky.
Though the meteors are part of a comet's debris trail, they seem to radiate outward from the Perseus constellation. This is how the meteor shower got its name: Perseids.
As comets orbit the sun, they leave a trail of dust and particles, including meteors, behind them. The Perseids meteors originate from the Swift-Tuttle comet, which has a nucleus of about 16 miles wide, and takes more than 130 years to circle the Sun.
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