Web PlanetariumPerseid meteor showerWhen to watch, where to look and what time
The Perseids are one of the three major annual meteor showers, peaking every year in mid-August. The shower is reliable every year, and in the Northern Hemisphere it comes on mild summer nights. The radiant is already up in the evening and climbs toward dawn, so the best hours are from after midnight until the sky starts to brighten. From the Southern Hemisphere the radiant stays low or below the horizon, so fewer meteors are seen.
When is the peak?
- Your time
- Expected rate
- Up to about 35 per hour (NAOJ, dark skies in Japan)
- Moon at peak
- 86% lit, waxing
The peak time shifts a little each year. The prediction above is from NAOJ, based on IMO predictions. Even when the peak falls in your daytime, the nights before and after still bring many meteors.
See the 2027 peak-night sky →Where should I look?
Meteors seem to shoot out from one point in the sky, the radiant. The Perseids radiant is in Perseus. Meteors appear all over the sky, not only near the radiant, so take in as much sky as you can.
What time is best?
| Latitude | 22:00 | 0:00 | 2:00 | 4:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50°N | 30° | 42° | 57° | 73° |
| 35°N | 17° | 31° | 47° | 61° |
| 20°N | 4° | 19° | 34° | 47° |
| 0° | below | 2° | 17° | 28° |
| 35°S | below | below | below | below |
Height of the radiant above the horizon on the night of Aug 13–14, 2027, calculated by this site. Times are local solar time, usually within an hour of standard clock time (add an hour under daylight saving time). The higher the radiant, the more meteors you see.
How to watch
- Find a dark place with a wide view of the sky, away from city lights.
- Give your eyes at least 15 minutes to adjust. A bright phone screen undoes that; the planetarium’s Red light helps.
- Lie back on a mat or a reclining chair. Binoculars and telescopes show too little sky, so leave them at home.
- A bright Moon cuts the count; check “Moon at peak” above.
- Stay safe at night: watch for traffic, dress for the cold and keep children with an adult.
Where the meteors come from
A meteor shower happens when Earth runs into dust left along the path of a comet or similar body. The source of the Perseids is comet 109P/Swift–Tuttle. Other showers are on the meteor shower calendar.
Sources
- NAOJ, sky guide (Hoshizora Jōhō), August 2027 (in Japanese)
Credit: National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). Dates and times are from NAOJ, checked on 2026-09-23. NAOJ bases meteor shower peaks on predictions by the International Meteor Organization (IMO). Moon illumination, radiant heights and the “See the sky” times are calculated by this site.