Shooting Stars Are Back! The Perseid Meteor Shower Officially Begins Tonight
Quick Summary
Tonight is the perfect night to look up at the sky. The Perseid meteor shower officially starts today, July 14. And there is a bonus: tonight is a new moon, which means the sky will be extra dark and perfect for spotting shooting stars!
What Happened?
Every summer, Earth travels through a trail of dusty debris left behind by an old comet called Comet Swift-Tuttle. When those tiny bits of rock and ice slam into Earth’s atmosphere, they burn up and create bright streaks of light across the sky. We call those streaks shooting stars — and together, they make up the Perseid meteor shower.
Today, July 14, is the official first day of the Perseid season. The shower will run all the way until August 24. The big peak — the night with the most shooting stars — is expected on August 12 and 13.
At the peak, people watching from a dark place can see between 60 and 100 meteors per hour. That is nearly two shooting stars every single minute!
But here is exciting news for tonight: there is a new moon. The Moon sits between Earth and the Sun, so its face is completely dark. No bright moonlight washes out the sky. That makes the darkness extra deep and the faint streaks easier to spot.
NASA says you do not need any special equipment. No telescope. No binoculars. Just your own eyes, a dark spot away from city lights, and a comfortable blanket to lie on.
The meteors enter Earth’s atmosphere at about 37 miles per second. That is more than 133,000 miles per hour — about 170 times faster than a jet airplane!
Why Does It Matter?
The Perseids are one of the most beloved meteor showers of the year. For thousands of years, people have looked up at the summer sky and watched them. Ancient peoples told stories about those streaks of light.
Today, scientists track the Perseids to learn more about comets and the history of our solar system. Comet Swift-Tuttle swings around the Sun only once every 133 years. The debris trail it leaves behind is so thick that Earth passes through it every single year.
The 2026 peak in August is expected to be especially good because the new moon will fall on the same night. That means dark skies AND peak meteors — the perfect combo.
NASA recommends letting your eyes adjust to the dark for about 30 minutes before you start watching. Looking at a bright phone screen resets your night vision and makes it much harder to see faint meteors — like turning on a flashlight in the middle of a movie!
Big Words
- Meteor — a piece of rock or dust from space that burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, creating a streak of light
- Meteor shower — when Earth passes through a trail of space debris and many meteors appear in the same part of the sky
- New moon — when the Moon is between Earth and the Sun, so its lit side faces away from us and the night sky is very dark
- Comet — a ball of ice, rock, and dust that travels around the Sun; as it warms up, it releases dust and gas that form a glowing tail
- Radiant — the spot in the sky where a meteor shower appears to come from; Perseid meteors seem to radiate from the constellation Perseus
Fun Fact
The Perseid meteor shower is named after the constellation Perseus the Hero from Greek mythology. But the meteors don’t actually come from those stars — they just appear to streak outward from that direction, the way roads appear to fan out from a single point when you drive through them!
Think About It
Imagine you are the first scientist to figure out that shooting stars are not really falling stars but tiny pieces of a comet. How would you try to prove it to people who did not believe you?
Sources
- Forbes — Perseid Meteor Shower Returns This Week Under An ‘Earthshine’ Moon (July 13, 2026)
- Daily Voice — Summer Sky Show Starts This Week Before Spectacular August Peak (July 14, 2026)
- EarthSky — Perseid meteor shower 2026: All you need to know
- NASA Science — What’s Up: July 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA