12/08/2026
☄️ One of 2026’s best meteor showers is about to light up the night sky — and this year, the Moon won’t spoil the show.
The annual Perseid meteor shower is approaching its peak, bringing fast, bright meteors, occasional spectacular fireballs, and glowing trails across the sky.
For 2026, NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office forecasts maximum Perseid activity on August 13, with excellent viewing expected during the night of August 12 into the pre-dawn hours of August 13. Even better, the shower coincides with a new Moon, creating unusually dark conditions for spotting fainter meteors.
For the best experience, head somewhere far from city lights, give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness, and watch from late evening through the hours before dawn. No telescope or binoculars are needed. Although the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, they can streak across virtually any part of the sky.
Perseid meteors slam into Earth’s atmosphere at roughly 132,000 mph (59 km/s). NASA describes them as exceptionally fast and bright, frequently producing colorful, persistent wakes—and the Perseids are particularly well known for producing impressive fireballs.
These meteors are tiny fragments left behind by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Every August, Earth passes through this stream of ancient comet debris, turning tiny particles into brilliant streaks of light high above our planet.
Source: NASA Meteoroid Environment Office; NASA Science, Perseids Meteor Shower; NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, 2026.
