Perseids to peak this weekend! (earthsky.org)

By Bruce McClure in Tonight | August 11, 2017

This weekend – August 11-12 and August 12-13, 2017 – are the peak nights of the 2017 Perseid meteor shower. Watch from late evening until dawn on both nights. The greatest number of meteors typically fall in the wee hours before dawn, and on a moonless night, you can often spot 50 or more meteors per hour. But this year is far from moon-free. In 2017, a bright waning gibbous moon lights up the sky after midnight. Still, the Perseids are well worth watching. A good percentage of these meteors should be bright enough to overcome moonlit glare. Plus, you can minimize the moon to maximize your enjoyment of the meteor shower.

It’s possible to see and photograph bright meteors in moonlight, and, according to NASA’s Meteoroid Office, the Perseids have more fireballs than any other major shower. EarthSky friend Eliot Herman caught the image at the top of this post – a bright meteor, not associated with the Perseid shower – in early July. He wrote on his Flickr page:

Even next to the moon, this is a bright meteor. Brightest meteor captured this location so far in 2017.

Click here to find out the moon’s rising time, remembering to check the moonrise and moonset box. The moon rises later each day. It won’t rise until fairly late on August 11 and later yet on August 12. The Perseids don’t fall as abundantly in the evening hours as they do after midnight, but the moon-free evening hours might offer a decent sprinkling of meteors. Click here for more tips on watching this year’s Perseid shower.

By the way, there’s a rumor going around that 2017’s Perseid meteor shower will be the best in 96 years. It’s not true.
***
more: http://earthsky.org/tonight/peak-night-for-the-perseid-meteor-shower