Perseid meteor shower 2025: How to catch fireballs across sky

The Perseid meteor shower, the most popular shower of the year, is active and will reach its peak on the nights of August 12 and 13, 2025.

It will be hard to see the meteor shower due to the brightness. The moon will be in waning gibbous phase on August 12 and 13, and will be very bright. The glare of the moon will make it difficult to see the dimmer meteor.

Pre-dawn hours are ideal to watch the Perseid meteor shower. The radiant (a point in the sky where all meteors seem to come from) in the Perseus constellation is highest in the sky.

Ideally, Perseids can normally produce around 100 meteors per hour under complete dark sky conditions. However, it is expected that the full moon may reduce the visibility to around 10-20 meteors per hour.

The good news is that you may still be able to see the shower even with the bright moon. The Perseids are bright fireballs that can outshine the moonlight.

To see this spectacle view find a location away from the city lights. Going to the coast or standing on a hill in the countryside are ideal locations.

Dr. Ashley King, a meteor expert and planetary scientist, said, “Once you get used to the low light levels, you’ll begin to notice more and more. So don’t give up quickly.”

Look 40 degrees above the horizon. Avoid looking directly at the moon to preserve night vision. Meteors appear in the sky in bunches; therefore, the sky may appear blank for 10 minutes. You may go a few minutes without seeing anything. So, stargazers need to be patient.

Which direction is best to see the Perseids meteor shower?

The best direction to see the Perseid meteor is to face the direction of the constellation Perseus.