August 2026 brings one of the most anticipated celestial events of the year - the peak of the famous Perseid meteor shower. With conditions this year being absolutely perfect thanks to a new Moon on the peak night, this is one not to miss. Here is everything you need to know.
🌠 A Quick Summary of the Perseid Meteor Shower
- Parent Body: Comet 109P / Swift-Tuttle
- Radiant Constellation: Perseus
- Shower activity between: 16th July – 24th August
- Peak night: Evening of the 12th of August
- Exact peak: Early morning of the 13th of August
- Peak meteor count: Around 100 meteors per hour in perfect conditions
The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most prolific of the annual meteor showers, producing up to 100 meteors (some sources say 150) per hour under perfect conditions. The Perseids always put on a great show and are well known for their fast, bright and colourful meteors.
Fortunately, this year will be excellent for viewing meteors from the Perseid shower due to the exact peak occurring in the early morning of the 13th of August just one day after new Moon. This means that the Moon will not be in the skies during the peak night, leaving the skies completely free from natural light pollution. Conditions couldn't be much better!
The Perseids are well known for producing many super bright "fireballs" and the shower crosses over with the active periods of several other meteor showers, meaning your chances of seeing shooting stars will be much higher than on an average night. We have in fact seen dozens of Perseid meteors over the last few nights even with the Moon in the skies, and we are very excited for the peak!
All in all, it's a great time to spot meteors and well worth spending an hour or two out stargazing and meteor watching on these beautiful and mild summer nights.
If you would like more detailed information on the Perseid meteor shower and meteors in general, including what meteors are, where they come from, and what you need to know to maximise your chances of viewing meteors, please read on…
🌠 The Perseid Meteor Shower
The Perseid Meteor Shower is so named because the radiant point from which its meteors appear to radiate is located within the constellation of the great hero of legend — Perseus.
The Perseid meteor shower occurs every July to August when the Earth passes through a cloud of debris left behind by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. This year the shower is active between the 16th of July and the 24th of August, with the peak night on the evening of the 12th of August and the exact peak in the early morning hours of the 13th.
The famous Perseid meteor shower is one of the annual highlights of many meteor shower calendars due to its high hourly rate — up to 100, and some sources even suggest 150, meteors per hour in perfect clear and dark conditions! The Perseid shower is well known for its bright meteors which leave long-lasting trails and often puts on a spectacular display. The Perseids are also very fast meteors, typically travelling at a velocity of 36 miles per second as they enter the Earth's atmosphere — roughly 133,200 miles per hour!
🔥 The Fireball Champion Meteor Shower
For viewers in the Northern Hemisphere, this shower is among the best meteor showers of the year. In fact, NASA has called it the "fireball champion" of annual meteor showers for its record-breaking number of extra-bright meteors, known as "fireballs".
A meteor is called a fireball when it reaches a magnitude (brightness) equal to or brighter than that of the planet Venus, which sits at around -4 in magnitude. These fireballs are so bright that they can easily be seen even in heavily light-polluted areas such as cities.
On rare occasions, it is possible to view meteors that explode and separate into several pieces in the sky. These explosive meteors are known as "bolides" and can outshine the bright full Moon. They are an incredible sight to witness, we have been treated to a couple of these at the public stargazing events that we run!
☄️ Where Do Meteors Come From? Parent Body — Comet 109P / Swift-Tuttle
Most meteor showers are caused by comet debris that crosses Earth's orbit, though some showers are caused by asteroid debris.
The spectacular Perseid meteor shower lights up Earth's sky every summer as our planet passes through the trail of debris left by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle - a miles-wide behemoth that swings by Earth every 133 years. Swift-Tuttle's nucleus is 16 miles (26 kilometres) wide, making it the largest solar system object to pass close to Earth repeatedly. Researchers once thought it was likely to hit Earth in 2126, but the last time it passed Earth in 1992, astronomers took more precise measurements and calculated that future passes will not be dangerous after all.
The comet orbits the Sun but follows a very steep incline compared to the solar system planets, diving down into the solar system to whip around the Sun and back out again. Like all comets, Swift-Tuttle is a ball of dust, ice, rock and dark organic material. It was discovered in July 1862 independently by both Lewis Swift and Horace Parnell Tuttle.
💡 What Causes the Light from Meteors?
As a comet or asteroid travels through space, it leaves a trail of dust and debris behind it. When Earth intersects these trails, we pass through the dust and debris in their wake. The debris then enters the Earth's atmosphere at incredibly high speed, generating immense amounts of energy released in the form of intense heat and light. Meteors tend to vary from the size of a sand grain to about as big as a pea, but occasionally can be much larger. The bigger the piece of debris, the bigger and brighter the meteor.
When a meteoroid particle strikes the upper atmosphere at high speed, it heats up to around 1,650°C and starts to glow. The meteoroid also compresses and heats the air in front of it, exciting atoms like oxygen which in turn radiate light. Together, the two processes produce the bright, needle-like flashes known as meteors or "shooting stars."
Occasionally, a meteoroid may be large enough to survive its fiery journey through our atmosphere and land somewhere on Earth. When a meteoroid manages to land on our planet, it becomes known as a meteorite.
Meteor Colours ❤️💙💜🧡💛☄️
When meteoroids burn up in our atmosphere, they can sometimes create beautifully colourful trails. The colours are partly caused by the presence of traces of elements such as sodium, iron and calcium, the same elements used to make fireworks colourful. These elements become ionised as they travel through Earth's atmosphere and emit a beautiful range of different coloured trails as they burn up.
Here are the colours associated with different elements found in meteors:
🟠 Orange-yellow — sodium
🟡 Yellow — iron
🔵 Blue-green — magnesium
🟣 Violet — calcium
🔴 Red — atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen
The speed at which the meteor enters the Earth's atmosphere can also affect the colour, the faster a meteor moves, the more intense its colour may appear.
🌠 Things to Consider to Maximise Your Chances of Seeing Meteors
There are a few things to consider in order to maximise your chances of viewing meteors from a meteor shower.
The main thing to consider is the date when the Earth travels furthest into the trail of debris left by the parent comet or asteroid, around this period there will be a higher number of meteoroids entering the Earth's atmosphere. This is the peak of the meteor shower.
The next most important thing to consider is the time that the radiant for the meteor shower will be high in the sky. The higher the radiant, the higher your chances of viewing meteors. You must also take sky brightness into account along with the radiant's location, and other factors such as Earth weather, your viewing location, and the Moon's position and phase.
📅 When is the Peak / The Best Night to Watch?
This year the Perseid meteor shower is active between the 16th July and the 24th August. The peak night (when the shower will be most active) is the evening of the 12th of August into the early morning of the 13th, with the exact peak and most active period occurring in the early morning hours before dawn.
Don't worry if it's cloudy on the peak night, it will still be possible to view meteors on either side of the peak during the shower's active period.
🔭 Where to Look / The Radiant
Meteors from a specific meteor shower appear to originate from a specific area of the sky known as the "radiant". The radiant for the Perseid meteor shower is located in the constellation of Perseus the great hero of legend, which at this time of year can be found below the distinct "W"-like shape of the constellation Cassiopeia. The exact location of the radiant is next to the star Miram in Perseus, just below the Heart and Soul Nebulae.
You don't need to know exactly where meteors radiate from, as they can appear anywhere in the sky. However, knowing where the radiant is can help:
⭐ Top Tip! Try looking at a dark part of the sky around 45 degrees away from the radiant to maximise your chances of viewing meteors. Meteors seen closer to the radiant will appear shorter compared to those further away.
⭐ Cool Fact! You can tell if a meteor belongs to a specific shower by tracing a line backwards from the direction it travelled across the sky. If this line leads you close to the radiant's location, you can safely bet that meteor belonged to that shower.
🕐 What Time to Look / Radiant Continued
Fortunately for the Perseids, the radiant is circumpolar, meaning it never travels below the horizon, is always high in the sky, and is well placed for viewers in the Northern Hemisphere throughout the night.
For most meteor showers, the best time to head out is on the peak night between midnight and dawn, when the radiant is highest in the sky and the skies are darkest. Don't worry if you can't head out this late, there should still be plenty of meteors visible earlier in the evening.
If you head out early in the night, you might also be treated to "Earth grazer" meteors — long, slow meteors that skim across the edge of our atmosphere and can be a spectacular sight.
📍 Where to View From / Viewing Location / Light Pollution
The location you choose for stargazing can make a big difference to how many meteors you see. The less light there is around your viewing location, the more your eyes will adapt to the darkness, and the more of the fainter meteors will be visible.
Ideally, find a safe dark location with clear views of the sky and as far away from sources of light such as street lights as possible. Your meteor viewing experience will always be better with as little light around as possible.
👁️ Dark Adaptation / Night Vision
Try not to look at sources of light such as your mobile phone for around 15 minutes or so before and during your meteor watching session. After around 15-30 minutes of dark adaptation, the pupils of your eyes will dilate to their maximum aperture and the receptors responsible for low light vision will have fully activated, allowing you to see many more fainter meteors.
If you need to use a torch, we recommend one that emits only red light, red light has much less of an effect on your night vision than white light. If you want to use your phone, use it on its lowest brightness, or cover the screen with a red film. Star map apps such as Stellarium often have a night mode that displays only in red, which can also help you keep your night vision.
🌑 The Moon / Dark Skies
Sometimes the glow of the Moon can interfere with a meteor shower by illuminating the night sky and washing out the fainter meteors. This year however we are extremely lucky, the peak night of the Perseid meteor shower falls just after the Moon reaches its new phase, meaning the Moon will not be in the sky at all during the peak night, leaving the skies completely free from natural light pollution. Conditions couldn't be much better!
🌌 What Else is in the Night Sky Throughout August?
If you would like to know more about the rest of the celestial treats visible throughout August including the astronomical highlight of the year, the 2026 solar eclipse, please head to our August Night Sky Guide, or visit our YouTube channel @AstroDogUK to watch our full Night Sky Guide video for August 2026.
⭐ Recap + General Stargazing and Meteor Shower Tips
- You don't need a telescope or any special equipment to view meteors — just your eyes and a bit of patience.
- If you do own binoculars or a telescope, take a closer look at some of the amazing celestial treats currently visible — Saturn with its majestic ring system, the Pleiades, the Andromeda galaxy and the Hercules cluster are all spectacular.
- Find a safe, dark location with clear unobstructed views and as far away from streetlights as possible. The darker your location, the more meteors you will see.
- Allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness for 15-30 minutes — you will see many more meteors. Use a red light torch if you need one.
- Be mindful of other stargazers when using a torch — you don't want to ruin someone else's meteor shower experience!
- You don't need to know where the radiant is, but if you do, looking around 45 degrees away from it and halfway between the horizon and the zenith will improve your chances of seeing meteors.
- You can tell if a meteor belongs to a specific shower by tracing a line backwards from the direction it travelled — if it leads back to the radiant, it's a Perseid!
- Take a blanket to lay on or a reclining chair so your neck doesn't get strained whilst looking up.
- Wrap up well! Although our nights are fairly mild, it can still get chilly. Bring a blanket and a flask with a warm drink. ❄️🧤🧣
- Why not gather some friends and family to share the occasion? You could host a meteor watching party — and with the solar eclipse occurring earlier on the same day, you could make a full day of celestial celebrations!
💖 Closing Words from Astro Dog
We are super excited for the peak of the famous Perseid meteor shower and have already seen some amazing meteors in the nights running up to it. We hope you all get to see some too. Good luck everyone, and clear skies! 💖
