Perseid swarm well visible mid-August
Mid-summer is meteor shower season: Around mid-August, thanks to the legendary Perseid shower, countless meteors are visible to the naked eye in the night sky. This year, the meteor shower will be best observed in the early morning hours of Monday and the night of Tuesday, August 11-12. With clear skies, observers can expect to see a meteor every two minutes.
The first Perseids begin to appear in late July, with their numbers increasing before reaching a peak on Monday afternoon - coincidentally, when it's broad daylight in Germany. However, during the nights around the peak, from Sunday to Monday and Monday to Tuesday, around 20 to 30 meteors per hour will still be visible, according to the German Astronomical Society and the House of Astronomy in Heidelberg.
The waxing moon sets before midnight and, being low over the horizon, causes minimal disturbance. The Perseids also often produce bright meteors that can be seen even in moonlight.
For meteor enthusiasts, the August meteors mark a fixed date in the astronomical calendar: the Perseids are the only major meteor shower in summer and one of the most prolific overall. They get their name from the constellation Perseus, from which they appear to radiate.
The Perseids meteor shower, named after the constellation Perseus, starts to become visible towards the end of July. During the nights around the peak, when the Perseids are at their most active, around 20 to 30 meteors per hour can still be observed, even with the faint glow of the waxing moon.
