--- title: "The Most Amazing Meteor Shower of the Year Is This Weekend" description: "The biggest, brightest meteor shower of the year, the annual Perseids shower, will be on full display this Saturday and Sunday." date: "2023-08-11" modified: "2023-08-11" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/amazing-meteor-shower-weekend" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "meteor shower" - "meteors" - "perseids" - "the digest" --- # The Most Amazing Meteor Shower of the Year Is This Weekend ![The biggest, brightest meteor shower of the year, the annual Perseids shower, will be on full display this Saturday and Sunday.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## The Perseids Break out the binoculars, folks. Time to see some shooting stars! As [*The Washington Post* reports](), the biggest and brightest meteor shower of the year, the annual Perseids, will be on full display this Saturday and Sunday. The Perseids, [per NASA](), is known for incredible fireballs amid a spatter of fainter, falling bits of light, which often leave mesmerizing streaks in their wake. It's also considered a "high-rate meteor shower," with 50 to 100 meteors often seen every hour. Though folks Northern Hemisphere will have the optimal viewing position, it can be seen anywhere, ideally in the early hours of the morning — though anytime after 10 is fine — on Saturday-night-slash-early-Sunday-morning. And according to the experts, you won't want to miss the sparkling show. "This is one of the three most active in meteor showers," NASA ambassador Tony Rice told *WaPo*, meaning it's one of the three heavenly showers that produce "the most visible meteors." ## Follow Perseus According to NASA, Perseids is comprised of pieces of tiny bits of space rock originating from the Swift-Tuttle comet. Discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle, the comet orbits the Sun every 133 or so years, last making its way to our inner solar system in 1992. The shower's radiant, or the point in the sky where they appear to come, is right around the constellation Perseus — indeed, that's how the starshow originally got its name. And ideally, Rice told the paper, if you look towards Perseus this weekend, "you might see some meteors that last a couple of seconds." "There will be fewer of them," he added, "but they're going to be more spectacular." ## No Phone Zone If you do plan on staying up — or waking up — for the show, Rice did offer *WaPo* some recommendations. Darkness is essential, and so is patience; once get outside, you need to wait about 15 minutes for your eyes to adjust. And once you're adjusted, Rice told *WaPo*, you'd do well to stay outside for about an hour. Don't want to go inside too early and miss a fireball! Oh, and one last tip? Leave the phone inside. Per the paper, the brightness of your phone screen will mess with your night vision. And trust us, that would be a shame. **More on space rocks:** [*Meteor Explodes over Texas, Causing Epic Noise and Scattering Debris*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()