Perseid meteor shower begins this week — look up for shooting stars after midnight

The Perseid meteor shower runs July 17–Aug 24 and peaks around Aug 12–13, with observers under dark skies potentially seeing 50+ meteors per hour. You can start watching now, especially after midnight when Perseus climbs higher in the northeastern sky, and occasional bright fireballs can appear even earlier in the season. Expect some dim meteors to be washed out by the Buck Moon around late July, and note that other showers (Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids) also occur this month as Earth passes through debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle.