Where to look

As the name suggests, the radiant for the Perseids lies in the northern part of the constellation Perseus, next to Andromeda. As the Perseids are fast, they may leave persistent trains in the sky, and with any luck we may even be treated to a fireball.

The constellation Perseus is in the north-eastern sky and sits nestled between the distinctive ‘W’ of the constellation Cassiopeia above, and everyone favourite, the Pleiades, just below.

The brightest star in Perseus is Mirfak, a yellow supergiant star in the middle of the constellation. The variable blue-white star Algol forms a line with Mirfak, which help to identify where the centre is.

The radiant will move higher as morning approaches. For best views, try to take in as much of the sky as possible in your line of vision

If you’re struggling to find this point in the night sky, using an app may help (check our best astronomy apps)

Although the radiant is where the shooting stars appear to originate, they will be visible over the whole sky. So, look up – and try to take in as much of the sky in your vision as possible.

How to maximise your chances of spotting a Perseid

This year conditions are favourable, but why is early morning the best time for meteor spotting? Pete explains:

“Several factors affect the quality of a display. Sky clarity is one, and this is on light pollution, weather, and the Moon. The Moon won’t interfere much this year, so if the weather looks good it’s worth planning a trip somewhere dark if you have light-polluted skies,” Lawrence says.

“Another factor is radiant altitude. A meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through the fine dust spread around a comet’s orbit, in this case 109P/Swift-Tuttle.

“The typically sand-grain-sized particles (meteoroids) are in parallel orbits around the Sun. As they enter our atmosphere, perspective makes it look as if they emerge from the same area of sky; the shower radiant.”

“If the radiant is low, the number of meteors seen will also be low. The Perseid radiant climbs to its highest altitude, approaching your zenith, as dawn begins around 3:20am BST from the centre of the UK.”

And thanks to the Earth’s rotation, we start to look forward at the meteors as we enter into the early hours of the morning, which essentially means we get a better view:

“After local midnight, the Earth turns to encounter meteoroids head-on. This increases the impact energy with more and brighter trails being seen. Local midnight occurs at 1am BST (midnight GMT),” Lawrence says.

Is there anything else I can see?

On the night of the 12/13 and 13/14 August, a bright Saturn (magnitude 0.49) will start to peep over the horizon just after sunset, while Jupiter will follow shortly after. Jupiter will be sitting pretty with a bright magnitude of -2.33, so it will be easy to spot if you look towards the East.

What causes the Perseid meteor shower?

The Perseid meteor shower occurs – like most meteor showers – when Earth’s orbit passes through the trail of dust left by a comet, in this case Comet Swift-Tuttle (109P/Swift/Tuttle). When the shower reaches its peak, that’s when we’re passing through the densest part of the dust stream.

Without the interfering light from the full Moon, this can mean we see hundreds of bright trails in the sky. They appear to radiate from the direction of the constellation Perseus; the ‘radiant’.

Comet Swift-Tuttle is a snowball comet made of dust, ice and rock. It’s a large comet, more than twice the size of the asteroid that brought around the end of the dinosaurs and has a nucleus 26km (16 miles) in diameter.

It takes 133 years to orbit the Sun, which classifies it as a short-period comet (anything with an orbit under 200 years is a ‘short-period’ comet). Its official designation is 109P/Swift-Tuttle.

The ‘P’ in the name indicates that it is a periodic comet, one which has been observed more than once returning to the perihelion, the point in its orbit closest to the Sun.

Comet Swift-Tuttle was last visible to us in 1992 but won’t pass our way again until 2125.

Viewing tips

You don’t need binoculars or a telescope to watch a meteor shower. To maximise your chances of spotting meteors – and get as wide a field of view as possible – your eyes are the perfect instrument. Shooting stars will streak across the sky, and although we know where the radiant is, we can’t predict precisely where they will appear.

Binoculars and telescopes have a much narrower field of view, so it’s more likely you’ll miss all the goodies if you opt for gadgetry.

“To enjoy this wonderful shower, find a dark location away from stray lights. Give yourself at least 20 minutes in darkness to dark adapt and make yourself comfortable, say using a recliner”, says Lawrence.

“Look up at a height roughly two-thirds up the sky (an altitude of 60 degrees) in any direction and wait. If you can’t decide on a direction, south and southeast have some interesting constellations to look at during meteor lull periods.”