Find the dark and hoard your wishes, my babies — the annual Perseid meteor shower is upon us.
Among the finest sky shows in our solar system, the Perseids will be visible throughout the US and most of the Northern Hemisphere in the days to come.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Perseid meteor shower 2025
The Perseid meteor shower is visible from Thursday, July 17th, through late August.
The onset of the showers this week aligns with a last-quarter moon phase, meaning the skies will be dark enough to really complement the fire of a few early meteors.
In North America, viewing can start as early as 10 p.m. and last through the pre-dawn hours.
The Perseids are predicted to reach their zenith or peak streak on the evening of August 12th, continuing until just before dawn on August 13th.
However, and unfortunately, due to the rising and shining of the full Sturgeon Moon in Aquarius on August 9th, the peak of the shower will not coincide with peak viewing conditions, as only the brightest shooting stars will be visible.
Meteor shower July 2025
Due to the moon being a real boner killer and light polluter during the Perseid peak, the best time to view the show will be in the early days of the showers, from July 18-28.
The darkest phase of the moon, the new moon, arrives on July 24 — providing the prime canvas for the celestial show.
From then on, the moon will slowly wax to a crescent. The sky will be top tier until the 28th, when the moon glow will build and begin to compete with the shine of the shooting stars.
When is the Perseid meteor shower?
The best time to observe the Perseids is between 2 and 4 a.m. During this prime time, up to 100 meteors per hour will appear to scratch the surface of the sky.
The resplendent geeks at NASA have previously stated that fireballs, or large, bright meteors, are the Perseids’ cosmic calling card.
What is a meteor?
Meteors are born from comet particles and asteroid debris. When this glorious detritus travels around the sun, it leaves a trail behind.
When Earth passes through these trails, the bits of space dust collide with our atmosphere and burn themselves up, and their disintegration creates streams of color and fire in the sky.
The Perseid meteor shower comes from the comet formerly known as Swift-Tuttle, formally designated 109P/Swift–Tuttle. Each year, our planet crosses the comet’s orbital path and moves through a trail of debris, with bits and pieces of the comet slamming spectacularly into Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Where can the Perseid meteor shower be seen?
Due to the path of the Swift-Tuttle’s orbit, the Perseid meteor shower is most visible at northern latitudes. As the radiant in Perseus never rises above the horizon in southern latitudes, skygazers in the southern hemisphere see significantly fewer meteors than their northern counterparts.
Perseid mythology
The Perseid meteor shower is named for Perseus, the gorgon-slaying Greek hero.
The showers are associated with Perseus because the radiant, or the point from which the Perseids appear in the sky, is located in the direction of the Perseus constellation.
The sky show is thought to commemorate Perseus’s gilded conception, wherein Daddy God Zeus impregnated his mother Danae via a shower of gold.
Kinky.
The Perseids are also known, biblically and poetically, as the “tears of St. Lawrence” as they peak near the date of the saint’s martyrdom on August 10.
Fun fact, St. Lawrence is the patron saint of cooks and firefighters, owing perhaps to that one time he was allegedly roasted alive on a gridiron. In the heaviest metal mic drop of all time, he is said to have told his torturers at one point, “I am cooked on that side; turn me over, and eat.”
The Perseids are best viewed under clear skies and away from the maddening hum of crowds and the ugly interference of light pollution.
And while many a noob will reach for a telescope or binoculars, it is better to take in the entirety of the sky, rather than a small part.
The meteors can and will appear anywhere up there, but your best bet is to stare into the darkest part of the sky that your location affords. For best results, lie flat on your back with your feet facing south. After roughly 30 minutes, your eyes will adjust to the dark.
Avoid looking at your phone during the meteor shower. It will impair your night vision and disrupt your ancient connection to the above and beyond.
Look up, wish well, and feel the gravity of being both cosmic and creaturely, infinitesimal and infinite.
Meteor showers 2025
In addition to the Perseids, we’ll see the fortuitous overlap of the Delta Aquariids and the Alpha Capricornids on the evening of July 29th, tripling your chances of seeing shooting stars in July.
Later this year, the Geminid meteor shower will be active from December 4 to 17, peaking on the evening of December 14. However, because the full moon in Gemini will rise and shine on December 9th, the peak of the Geminids, like the Perseids, will have to compete with the obstruction of lunar light.
Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture, and personal experience. To book a reading, visit her website.
