The Perseid meteor shower will streak across the skies above the Middle East and North Africa overnight on 12 August, giving viewers from the UAE and Syria to Morocco one of the year’s best opportunities to see shooting stars.
Unlike the total solar eclipse taking place earlier that day, the Perseids will be visible across most of the Northern Hemisphere. This year’s display also coincides with a new moon, eliminating lunar glare and making fainter meteors easier to spot – provided viewers can escape city lights and find clear skies.
According to the International Meteor Organization’s (IMO) 2026 calendar, the shower will peak into the early hours of Thursday, between 2am and 4am UTC on 13 August, although the best local viewing time will vary across the region.
That corresponds to:
6am-8am: UAE and Oman5am-7am: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Turkey, Djibouti, Somalia and Egypt5.30am-7.30am: Iran4am-6am: Libya and Sudan3am-5am: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia2am-4am: Mauritania
The precise maximum therefore arrives after sunrise or close to dawn in much of the Middle East. Fortunately, the Perseids have a broad peak rather than appearing at a single moment. The IMO says the traditional maximum could extend from 9pm UTC on 12 August until 9am UTC the following day.
For UAE viewers, that means the best practical window should run from around 1am until shortly before dawn on 13 August. In Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and other countries operating on UTC+3, viewing can begin around midnight. Across Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, conditions should remain favourable through much of the predawn peak.
Meteors may be visible earlier in the evening, but their numbers generally increase after midnight as the shower’s radiant climbs higher.
Can the Perseids Be Seen From the Middle East and North Africa?
Yes. The Perseids will be visible across most of the Middle East and North Africa, including the Gulf, Levant, Turkey, Iran and countries across North Africa. Syria and northern parts of North Africa may have a better view than the Gulf because their higher latitudes allow the shower’s radiant to climb farther above the horizon.
The IMO identifies mid-northern latitudes – which include Syria and much of North Africa – as the most favourable locations for observing the Perseids. The radiant will appear lower in the sky from countries closer to the equator, including Somalia and Djibouti, reducing the number of meteors observers are likely to see.
One important distinction is that, unlike the total solar eclipse taking place earlier on 12 August, the meteor shower is not confined to a narrow geographical path. The eclipse will only be total across parts of Russia, Greenland, Iceland, Spain and Portugal, while the Perseids can be observed across most of the Northern Hemisphere.
The apparent source of the shower – known as its radiant – is in the constellation Perseus. Nasa recommends looking towards the northeast once the sky is fully dark and waiting for Perseus to rise higher above the horizon.