Perseid Meteor Shower reaches its peak: How to see 100 shooting stars per hour and is it visible in India?

Perseid Meteor Shower 2025: Where and How to watch (Image: Canva)

There is something magical about watching the night sky. Tonight, that magic comes alive as the Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak, promising streaks of light across the darkness.

Fewer Meteors Expected Due to Bright Moon

In previous years, skywatchers have spotted up to 50 meteors each hour. This year, experts expect fewer, as August’s bright full moon will hide many of the fainter trails. Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environments Office says most viewers may see between 10 and 20 meteors per hour. Meteor expert Robert Lunsford estimates peak rates closer to 15 per hour.

Meteors may appear as early as 10 pm local time. Early evening may bring long “earth grazers” before the moonlight grows stronger. The most spectacular displays often happen in the pre-dawn hours, when the sky is darkest.

How and Where to Watch the Perseids

The shower is visible across much of the Northern Hemisphere, including India, though moonlight may reduce clarity. The Royal Observatory Greenwich says the Perseids will remain active until 23 August. For those unable to step outside, live streams on YouTube offer another way to watch.

For the best view, avoid bright lights and allow your eyes to adjust to the dark. A cloudless sky and a low or absent moon improve visibility. Keep your gaze away from screens, as the darker your vision, the easier it is to catch the fleeting flashes.

A Meteor Shower With Ancient Origins

The Perseid meteor shower comes from debris left by Comet Swift–Tuttle, which takes 133 years to orbit the Sun. These particles enter Earth's atmosphere at some 59 kilometres per second, incinerating into the brilliant streaks which we observe.

The shower has been documented for almost 2,000 years, with the first observations dating to ancient China. It takes the name of the constellation Perseus, from where the meteors seem to emanate. With Earth traversing the trail of the comet, every meteor is a reminder of the immense and eternal scale of the universe.