Perseids

When are the Perseids?

The Perseids are active from about 26 Jul to 20 Aug each year and peak around 13 Aug. Up to about 86 meteors an hour at the peak under ideal skies (the zenithal hourly rate). For local times, the Moon and the best hours from your place, open the page for the year.

• Perseids 2026Active 26 Jul – 19 AugPeak ~13 Aug
• Perseids 2027Active 26 Jul – 20 AugPeak ~13 Aug

How to watch

You can start in the late evening, when Perseids are fewer but often long, grazing trails. Rates rise as Perseus climbs, so the hours before dawn are best. The shower is active for weeks, so nights either side of the peak are worth trying too.

Get as far from streetlights as you can and give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust to the dark. Every glance at a bright phone screen resets that, so keep it away or use a red night mode.

Lie back on a reclining chair or a mat and take in as much sky as possible, looking about halfway up rather than straight at the radiant. Meteors can appear anywhere; the ones far from the radiant have longer trails.

You need no equipment. Binoculars and telescopes show only a tiny patch of sky, so they make you miss meteors. Dress warmly, even in summer, and plan to watch for at least an hour: meteors come in clumps and lulls.

Where do they come from?

The Perseids are dust from Comet 109P/Swift–Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 133 years and is one of the largest comets known to pass close to Earth’s orbit.

Fast, bright meteors, many with trains, and more fireballs than most showers.