Note: The 2014 Perseids are over now. I've merged this thread from an earlier year with the current one because there are some interesting posts in it. Watch out for the 2015 Perseids in August!

Some of you saw the Perseids last year. They're back soon. Predictions for the peak are always uncertain, but are expected to peak between August 11-14. But it's worth looking on the days near this date too. Between midnight and the hours before dawn give the best viewing.

If you want to know more about meteor showers, here is my article Meteor Showers - The Perseids

Meteorwatch 2012 made a video like a trailer for an adventure film for the Geminids 2012. (The Geminids are another popular meteor shower - they're in December.) It's very well done and quite imaginative. Have a look.

Meteor shower trailer

The Perseids can have some exceptional years. Last year we traveled for them, maybe saw two. Some years we have seen hundreds in an hour's time. I've got to see them during two different peaks, (over a 35-year span) one was in the dark moonless skies of Kansas in the early morning hours. It was beautiful! The Leonid meteor shower in November can also be pretty spectacular.

Mona, Thanks so much for pointing us in the direction of this video, it is just great.

Had already read your article and planned to keep my eyes open, and telescope at hand, but seeing the whole thing illustrated in this way makes it even more one of those 'can't miss' opportunities.

It's nearly time for (usually) one of the year's best meteor showers and you don't have to freeze to watch it. I've removed outdated information from earlier years and will be adding information and links as the time gets nearer.

The first Perseid fireball arrived a few days ago. Here is an early Perseid seen in the Czech Republic last night.

Years ago, I saw the Perseids sitting on a lawn chair in a Kansas field. They were amazing.

NASA reports that the Perseids have the most fireballs of any meteor shower. Fireballs are very bright meteors, which should make the Perseids a particularly good show.

Meteors? Meteorites? Fireballs? The terminology explained: Meteor or Meteorite & Other Posers

If your sky is covered in clouds - like mine is every year for the Perseids! - you can hear the meteors on Space Weather Radio. (It's not as much fun as seeing them, of course.) It monitors signals from USAF Space Surveillance Radar and each one makes a distinctive echo-y ping.

Space Weather Radio

Thanks Mona! I learned something new today.

There are lots of pictures of this year's Perseid meteor shower, but this short timelapse video is really something. It shows 25 Perseid meteors, noctilucent clouds, a faint aurora, airglow, satellites passing over and lightning. Wow!

Perseid meteors - timelapse from Sweden

I was thinking that it was about time I wound up the thread on this year's Perseids, but I couldn't resist sharing this fabulous picture. Babak Tafreshi, a great astrophotographer with The World at Night, took it at a World Heritage Site in central Greece.

Have a look here. It really is stunning. Perseids at Meteora

Connie, were you able to see any Perseids this year? I actually did. For the first time the sky was clear. Unfortunately, I was too tired, after a long day traveling (train 2 hours late) to watch for long. But I saw quite a lot in the half hour I managed.

The Perseid meteor shower has already started. Rates of 20 per hour and some fireballs are already being reported. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning (August 12/13) is the expected peak, but although it gradually tapers off, it continues for a few weeks after that.

Bright moonlight will cut down on the numbers you can see, but there's still a good chance of seeing something in an otherwise clear sky away from artificial light pollution.

You can read more more about the Perseids.

Spaceweather.com says that nearly a hundred Perseid fireballs have already been reported over the USA.

They also suggest that you look "during the hours after sunset when the Moon is still hanging low in the sky and the constellation Perseus is rising in the northeast. [This] can produce . . . an earthgrazer. Earthgrazers emerge from the horizon and skim the top of the atmosphere above the observer, a bit like a stone skipping across the surface of a pond. An hour's watching might net no more than one or two of this special kind of meteor, but . . . earthgrazers are colorful and gracefully slow, a rare beauty that makes any meteor-watch worthwhile."

I've never seen a Perseid earthgrazer, but I once saw a Taurid that just seem to amble across the sky. Fantastic. Usually I find that a meteor is something about which someone says "Look" and it's gone before you roll your eyes in that direction!

Google has put up a delightful animated doodle to celebrate the Perseids. Look out for them tonight if you get a clear sky. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning is the predicted peak, but they're already active.

The Perseids are still strong and the moonlight doesn't wash out the fireballs. Fireballs are a common feature of the Perseids. In fact, the moonlight made them more dramatic this year. A fireball is a very bright meteor and it leaves a trail - the trail shows up beautifully in the moonlight. Here is a picture of a Perseid fireball taken two days ago.