{"id":62344,"date":"2025-08-11T21:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T21:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/62344\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T21:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T21:14:09","slug":"how-to-watch-the-perseids-summers-most-dazzling-meteor-shower-as-it-nears-its-2025-peak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/62344\/","title":{"rendered":"How to watch the Perseids, summer\u2019s most dazzling meteor shower, as it nears its 2025 peak"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A meteor streaks across the sky above palm trees in Bal Harbour, Fla., during a Perseid meteor shower on Aug. 13, 2018.Wilfredo Lee\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Summer\u2019s most dazzling meteor shower, the Perseids, peaks early Wednesday. At the same time, Venus and Jupiter will converge in the sky \u2013 overlapping like a very bright star.<\/p>\n

If your focus is the meteor shower, it\u2019s worth knowing that this year a bright moon will dampen viewing during the pre-dawn peak, so some experts recommend waiting a week or so to glimpse shooting stars against a darker sky.<\/p>\n

The Perseids \u201care an incredible meteor shower,\u201d said Thaddeus LaCoursiere, planetarium program co-ordinator at the Bell Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota.<\/p>\n

Under dark skies with no moon, the Perseids can produce between 60 to 100 meteors per hour, he said. Since the moon will be around 84% full during the peak, skywatchers might expect between 10 to 20 meteors per hour, according to the American Meteor Society.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year I\u2019m actually recommending that people go out a little bit later\u201d \u2013 a week or so past the peak when the moon will not be as bright, LaCoursiere said.<\/p>\n

Viewing of the Perseids lasts until August 23.<\/p>\n

What is a meteor shower?<\/p>\n

As the Earth orbits the sun, several times a year it passes through debris left by passing comets and sometimes asteroids.<\/p>\n

The source of the Perseids is debris from comet 109P\/Swift-Tuttle.<\/p>\n

When these fast-moving space rocks enter Earth\u2019s atmosphere, the debris encounters new resistance from the air and becomes very hot, eventually burning up.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the surrounding air glows briefly, leaving behind a fiery tail \u2013 the end of a \u201cshooting star.\u201d<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need special equipment to see the various meteor showers that flash across annually, just a spot away from city lights.<\/p>\n

How to view a meteor shower<\/p>\n

The best time to watch a meteor shower is in the early pre-dawn hours when the moon is low in the sky.<\/p>\n

Competing sources of light \u2013 such as a bright moon or artificial glow \u2013 are the main obstacles to a clear view of meteors. Cloudless nights when the moon wanes smallest are optimal viewing opportunities.<\/p>\n

And keep looking up, not down. Your eyes will be better adapted to spot shooting stars if you aren\u2019t checking your phone.<\/p>\n

When is the next meteor shower?<\/p>\n

The next major meteor shower, the Orionids, peaks in late October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A meteor streaks across the sky above palm trees in Bal Harbour, Fla.,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62345,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-62344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}