As Earth continues its pass through the debris field left by periodic Comet Swift-Tuttle on August 11 and 12, the annual Perseid Meteor Shower could deliver a double peak and a brief period of up to 200 meteors per hour. [more inside]
posted by IvoShandor on Aug 11, 2009 - 35 comments

Time to make your plans to see the Perseid meteor shower Sunday night/Monday morning. 12 things you'll need. Odds are you won't see something quite as impressive as this "super bolide" in Croatia (watch it to the end), but it will still be well worth your while. A new moon that night means unusually dark skies for the event, so you will have a chance to see even the dim ones, under dark skies.
posted by spock on Aug 10, 2007 - 28 comments

The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak in intensity tonight. The product of Earth intersecting with the debris trail from Comet Swift-Tuttle, the shower should be most dramatic shortly before dawn. More information on the shower can be found in various places.

Those living far away from cities will have the best view, but there are lots of good photos from past showers online for those immersed in city light, or blanketed under cloud.
posted by sindark on Aug 12, 2006 - 18 comments

It's time again for the best meteor shower of the year: The Perseids!   Also known as the Tears of St. Lawrence I did not know that. NASA's page has a nice star chart. Here is a gallery of shots from the 2004 shower, a BBC gallery, and tips for photographing meteors. Cloudy where you are? Don't despair: LISTEN to the meteor shower!
posted by spock on Aug 11, 2005 - 13 comments

Perseid shower will peak in the (very) small hours of tomorrow morning...
We're in for a treat this year because Mars, at the closest it has been to Earth in almost 60,000 years, is also in sight. But the moon might cause smaller, fainter Perseid objects to be all but invisibile. If you're in Europe or North America, or elsewhere in the north hemisphere, you should be able to see something...
posted by tomcosgrave on Aug 12, 2003 - 11 comments

Perseid Meteor Shower-(Peaks Sunday & Monday) "The August Perseids are among the strongest of the readily observed annual meteor showers, and at maximum activity can yield 50 or 60 meteors per hour. However, observers with exceptional sky conditions often record even larger numbers. Also, during an overnight watch, the Perseids are capable of producing a number of bright, flaring and fragmenting meteors, which leave fine trains in their wake."
posted by DailyBread on Aug 12, 2002 - 13 comments