The Perseids are one of 2025’s most prolific meteor showers of the year and a great reason to look up at the night sky.
The meteor shower is known for having some of the highest meteor rates – up to 100 per hour under absolutely perfect conditions.
Plus, if you’re getting up early to see the meteor shower in the hours before dawn, you might catch sight of another celestial treat. On 13 August, Jupiter and Venus – the two brightest things in the night sky after the Moon – will be making their closest pass for the whole year.
Here’s everything you need to know to get the most out of the 2025 Perseids meteor shower.
When is the 2025 Perseid meteor shower?
The Perseids run from 17 July to 24 August, with the peak of activity falling on the night of 12/13 August.
This is when you could expect to see the most meteors, but if clouds or your schedule mean you can’t meteor watch on the peak, then you should be able to see a good show any time between 9-15 August.
The Perseids will be at their best from midnight until the hour or so before dawn. If that’s too late (or early) for you, you should still be able to see some meteors in the evening.
The Perseids have what’s known as a zenithal hourly rate (ZHR) of 100 to 150 meteors per hour, but that doesn’t quite mean you’ll see that many shooting stars.
“The ZHR of a meteor shower represents the rate expected under perfect conditions, a situation that’s rarely met,” says Pete Lawrence, an expert astronomer and presenter on The Sky at Night.
“Consequently, the actual number of meteors seen, the visual hourly rate, is often significantly lower, but at least a high ZHR indicates that good activity is possible.”
Where should I be looking to see the Perseid meteor shower?
A meteor can appear anywhere in the sky, so the best place to look is straight up, taking in as much of the night sky as you can.
However, if you trace back the trails of all the Perseid meteors, you’ll find they are all shooting out of the same spot in the sky, called the radiant, which is located in the constellation of Perseus (hence the name).
You don’t want to look directly at the radiant, as the meteors will be coming at you head-on. If you look away from this point, though, you should spot meteors with longer tails.
It’s still worthwhile tracking down Perseus. The constellation rises just as the Sun is setting and can be found throughout the night in the north to the northeastern sky.
The easiest way to find it is by locating the nearby constellation of Cassiopeia, which will appear as a W shape of bright stars. Perseus is just below this.
Where is the best place to observe a meteor shower?
The best place to see the 2025 Perseid meteor shower is anywhere that’s dark with a good view of the whole sky.
Light pollution will brighten up the background sky, making it harder to see dim meteors. If you can get away from the urban sprawl to a really dark sky site, then that’s the best option – though make sure it’s safe to do so and you have permission to be there after dark.
If you can’t get away, don’t worry. Look for a spot that’s shielded from any direct light sources. This could be a local park or even your back garden, using your house to block out any pesky streetlights.
How can you see a meteor shower?
The best way to see a meteor shower is to sit back and take in as much of the night sky as you can, as that will give you the best chance of catching a meteor.
It’s best to look with just your eyes, as telescopes and binoculars will narrow down your field of view.
Once you’re settled, allow your eyes time to adapt to the dark. It takes them about 30 minutes for our eyes to fully adjust, but you’ll start to notice a difference before that.
Be aware – a single bright light will completely undo all your dark adaptation, so be sure to turn off any security lights, and set your phone to red light mode.
Will the Moon interfere?
One source of light pollution we can’t do anything about is the Moon.
The Moon is full just a few days before the peak of the 2025 Perseids meteor shower, on 9 August. On the day of the peak, it will still be around 88 per cent illuminated and will be up for most of the night.
If you can, it’s best to position yourself so the Moon is blocked by a building or tree.
The Moon will rise in the east, moving higher in the sky and towards the East as the night goes on.
Here are our top tips for getting the most out of the Perseid meteor shower
- Find a dark spot. Whether in a proper dark sky site or in the darkest corner of your backyard, you’ll want to find a spot that’s away from as many lights as possible with a clear view of the sky.
- Put your phone on red light mode. Red light will help protect your hard-won dark adaptation. Some phones have a function to set them to red light mode, while others will need an app to do it.
- Wrap up warm. Even in August, it gets cold at night when you’re sitting in one place. Wear layers so you can adapt to the changing temperatures throughout the night.
- Get comfy. Looking directly up all night can give you a real crick in the neck. If you’ve got one, a sun lounger will help support your head. Alternately, you can lie on the floor, but bring a blanket to insulate yourself from the ground and a cushion to rest your head on.
- Let your eyes adapt to the dark. This should take around 20-30 minutes, but the longer you adjust, the more meteors you’ll see.
What causes the Perseid meteor shower?
“Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through the fine dust debris strewn around the orbit of a comet,” says Lawrence.
In the case of the Perseids, this comet was 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which loops around the Solar System once every 133 years, having last come through our neck of the woods in 1995.
“The dust distribution tends to be sparse in the outer regions of the stream, densest towards the centre before trailing off again,” says Lawrence.
The dust left is around the size of a grain of sand, but they hit Earth’s atmosphere at approximately 215,000 km/h (130,000 mph).
This is so fast that they heat the air to extreme temperatures, causing it to glow. We see that glow as a bright streak of light streaking across the sky.
The peak of the meteor shower occurs when our planet passes through the middle of the debris stream, where the dust is thickest.
“Earth begins to pass through the wide dust stream of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle from around 14 July, a passage that concludes around 1 September,” says Lawrence.
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