When it comes to meteor showers, the Perseids pop. It’s not just about the quantity of meteors (as many as 100 per hour) and their showy quality (fireballs!) but also their superb timing.
The annual shower hits its peak on warm, laid-back August nights as the Earth crosses paths with the dust cloud left by comet Swift-Tuttle on its every-133-years swing past our planet. Watching the shower can be an awesome experience as meteors streak past in the summertime heavens, leaving light and color in their wake.
John Denver, 27 and on a camping trip amid the Colorado pines, was so moved after seeing the Perseids rain fire in the sky that he wrote “Rocky Mountain High.”
That said, this year there’s a caveat.
The meteor shower is set to peak the night of Aug. 11 and 12, according to Ed Krupp, director of L.A.’s Griffith Observatory. NASA says the best viewing time is in the predawn hours. But the moon will get in the way.
“The waning gibbous moon will severely compromise this shower at the time of maximum activity,” notes the American Meteor Society.
The moon will be about 92% full and in the sky much of the time as the shower hits its peak, Krupp said.
“Fainter meteors will be lost in the moon’s glow,” he told The Times. “At its best, the Perseid shower delivers between 50 to 100 meteors per hour, but this year far fewer will be seen.”
Stargazers can cross their fingers for more fireballs, a phenomenon that the Perseid shower is known for, according to NASA.
“Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak,” NASA says. “This is due to the fact that fireballs originate from larger particles of cometary material.”
Krupp advises that those who are “committed to the Perseids” despite the diminished chances of visibility this year “should go somewhere far from any urban center and away from the scattered glare of artificial lighting.”
Experts advise booking campsites in Joshua Tree, the Mojave Desert and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. There are multiple other good spots.
Once there, aim for an expansive view because, although the Perseids seem to radiate from the northern constellation Perseus, they can appear anywhere, Bill Cooke, a NASA meteor scientist, told The Times in 2024. “So get on a cot or on a sleeping bag,” he said, “and lie flat on your back and look straight up.”
Good news for 2026: The forecast for the Perseid meteor shower is excellent. The moon will be dark, and as NPR reports, an unusually large number of meteors are expected to flash through the night sky.