How to spot the Perseid meteor shower, a summer light show that promises to dazzle

The Perseid meteor shower is peaking on Wednesday night into Thursday morning. This event coincides with a total solar eclipse across Spain, Iceland, and Greenland, as well as a six-planet parade. However, the best time to view the meteors will be after the totality of the eclipse.

Under ideal conditions, as many as 50 to 100 meteors per hour may be visible, according to NASA. The American Meteor Society estimates that 30 to 50 meteors per hour could be seen from rural regions. The meteors are debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun every 133 years and is not scheduled to return until 2125.

The Perseid meteor shower has been observed for over 2,000 years and is a popular event due to its tendency to produce brilliant fireballs. Random meteors can be seen in dark skies on any given night, but the Perseids offer a particularly dazzling celestial show.

Brief written by urgent.news from PBS NewsHour Science, Phys.org, Guardian Science, NDTV, Associated Press — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.