The peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower is peaking now! According to NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke, the Perseids are perhaps the most popular meteor shower of the year. Typical rates are about 80 meteors an hour, but in outburst years (such as in 2016) the rate can be between 150-200 meteors an hour. The meteor shower’s actual peak is around 1 p.m. EDT Aug. 12, which means that the night before and the night after will both have good rates; Cooke said the show would be slightly better in the predawn hours of Aug. 12, but that there’d be a decent show both nights.
On Saturday, the online Slooh community observatory will host a free webcast of the Perseids at Slooh.com, beginning at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT). You can also watch the Perseid meteor shower webcast on Space.com, courtesy of Slooh.
The Virtual Telescope Project based in Italy will host a live webcast Saturday at 4:50 p.m. EDT (2050 GMT). You can watch that Perseids webcast live here at start time.
In 2017, the Perseids will be a little more difficult to see due to the presence of the moon, which will be three-quarters full and will rise shortly before the shower hits its peak around midnight local time. (Live in a big city? Find out how to see the Perseids from urban areas here from our sister site Active Junky.)
“Rates will be about half what they would be normally, because of the bright moonlight,” Cooke told Space.com. “Instead of 80 to 100, [there will be] 40 to 50 per hour. And that’s just because the moon’s going to wash out the fainter ones.”
