Perseid meteor shower peaks this week under clear skies

The summer months offer a great time to view the night sky, including prime time views of the very popular Perseid meteor shower.

According to NASA, Earth’s rotation around the Sun carries the planet through the Perseids meteor stream each year during the period of about July 17 through Aug. 24. The peak period to see the meteor shower, though, occurs during Aug. 11 through 14.

The weather this week and heading into the coming weekend is expected to offer mainly clear skies during nighttime hours, allowing great viewing of the meteor shower commonly known as the Perseids after sundown. The best time to see the surge of meteors in the night sky is between midnight and dawn.

No special equipment is needed. Just find a wide-open sky and, even better, away from city lights. Your eyes may take up to 20 minutes to adapt to the dark. Perseid meteors will start to be seen hitting the planet’s atmosphere in the mid-to-late evening hours, peaking toward dawn.

In a dark sky, you may see up to 100 meteors per hour. Hang in there for at least an hour since the meteors tend to come in spurts interspersed with lulls.

The history of the Perseid meteors

The Perseid meteors are traced to the constellation Perseus, in honor of Perseus the Hero. In ancient Greek star lore, Perseus is the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Danaë. The Perseid shower commemorates the time when Zeus visited Danaë, the mother of Perseus, in a shower of gold. Quite the love story!

There is no threat of the meteors reaching the Earth’s surface. The meteors are quite small and burn up about 60 miles above Earth’s surface, leaving wonderful streaks of light across the dark sky.

Ted Buehner is the KIRO Newsradio meteorologist. Follow him on X and Bluesky. Read more of his stories here.