SkyRef / Meteor showers

The Perseids meteor shower

Peaks 08/12 at up to 100 per hour under ideal conditions. Active, peaking in 5 days.

The essentials

Peak08/12
Active07/17–08/24
Peak rate (ZHR)100/hr
Speed59 km/s
Radiant RA3.2h
Radiant Dec+58°

Status right now: Active, peaking in 5 days.

What to expect

The best-known shower of the year: warm nights, a high radiant, and plenty of bright meteors.

The Perseids come from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, and enter the atmosphere at about 59 kilometres per second. That is fast, which tends to produce brief, sharp streaks that often leave persistent trains.

About that ZHR number

The quoted rate of 100 per hour is the zenithal hourly rate — the count you would get with the radiant directly overhead, under a perfectly dark sky, with no moon. Nobody's actual conditions match that. Real counts are typically a third to a half of the headline figure, and considerably less with a bright moon or from a town.

SkyRef scales the estimate by the real altitude of the radiant from your location and tells you when the moon is going to ruin it, rather than repeating a number you will never see.

How to watch

Do not use a telescope or binoculars — meteors appear all over the sky and you want the widest possible view. Lie back, look roughly halfway up, and give your eyes twenty minutes to adapt. Face away from the moon if it is up. Patience matters more than equipment.

Check tonight's conditions

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