Perseid Meteor Shower 2025: Peak dates, best viewing times and what to expect next week

Time of India

09-08-2025

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The Perseid meteor shower — a highlight of the northern summer — will reach its peak overnight between 12 and 13 August. Normally, under dark skies, it produces between 60 and 100 meteors per hour. This year, however, an almost full waning gibbous moon will wash out many of the fainter streaks. According to the American Meteor Society , the brightness could cut visible meteors down to 10–20 an hour.'The Perseids are an incredible meteor shower,' said Thaddeus LaCoursiere, planetarium programme coordinator at the Bell Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota. 'This year I'm actually recommending that people go out a little bit later' — about a week past the peak — 'when the moon will not be as bright.'The shower occurs every year as Earth passes through debris left by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle . The comet, about 26 kilometres wide, last visited the inner solar system in 1992 and will not return until 2125. As its dust and small rock fragments hit our atmosphere at high speed, they heat up and burn, creating the brief streaks of light known as meteors.Some fragments are larger, producing what astronomers call fireballs — bright, long-lasting explosions of light and colour that can cut through even a moonlit sky.This year's Perseids have been active since mid-July and will continue until 23 August, with activity strongest in the second week of August. The radiant — the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to come — lies in the constellation Perseus, which rises in the northeast after midnight.The best viewing hours are between midnight and dawn, when Perseus is high and the sky is at its darkest. Observers should keep their back to the moon to reduce glare, and avoid bright lights from cities or devices. No telescope or binoculars are needed — just patience, and a clear view of the sky.For those in rural areas, the Canadian Space Agency advises finding a spot away from artificial light, dressing warmly even in August nights, and, if using a torch, covering it with red film to preserve night vision. Moonlight interference isn't new for the Perseids. In 1968, the peak occurred under similar conditions. At a public watch organised by New York's Hayden Planetarium, Dr Kenneth L. Franklin told onlookers they might see 'one every minute or two, but with the bright moon maybe it will be on the order of one every minute or three.' The actual rate that night was closer to one every eight minutes.While this year's meteor count will be modest, brighter Perseids — often white, yellow, green, red, or orange — can still stand out. 'Perseid meteors are swift,' notes astronomer Guy Ottewell in his Astronomical Calendar 2025. Many leave 'spectacular long-lasting trains' or end in sudden flares.There is also a consolation sight for early risers: a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in the east-northeast sky before sunrise during the peak week.The Perseids will have much better conditions next year, when the peak coincides with a new moon — and even a solar eclipse. Until then, sky watchers in 2025 can still enjoy the occasional fireball, even if the full spectacle will have to wait.