In 2022, the peak mornings for the Perseid meteor shower – August 11, 12 and 13 – will feature meteors under moonlight. Due to the full moon's illumination of the sky, the Perseids in 2022 won't be as as brilliant as they were in 2021.

Here’s how to optimize your chances to catching some meteors during this year’s display.

The mornings of August 11, 12, and 13 are typically when we would advise you to view the Perseids' peak. But sadly, during the Perseid meteor shower's anticipated* peak in 2022, the moon will be up all night. Keep in mind that this shower typically builds to a peak gradually before dropping off quickly after the peak. Peak predicted for August 13, 2022, at 3 UTC.

The annual Perseid meteor shower is one of the most beloved meteor showers of the year, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, where the shower peaks on warm summer nights. No matter where you live worldwide, the 2022 Perseid meteor shower will probably produce the greatest number of meteors on the mornings of August 11, 12 and 13.

1. The Perseids tend to be bright, and a good percentage of them should be able to overcome the moonlight. Who knows? You still might see up to 40 to 50 meteors per hour at the shower’s peak. Will you see over 100 per hour, as in some years? Not likely. Here are a few tips to help you enjoy this shower.

2. Find a wide-open sky. These meteors will all come from a single point in the sky, their radiant point. More about that below. But, as you stand watching (and depending on what time of the night it is), you’ll see meteors streak across the sky in front of numerous constellations. A wide-open sky will give you the best show.

3. Watch from midnight to dawn. That’s when the part of Earth you’re standing on will be heading into the meteor stream in space. So you’ll see more meteors. By dawn, they’ll be raining down from overhead. Be aware that the Perseid meteors will start to fly in mid-to-late evening from northerly latitudes. South of the equator, the Perseids start to streak the sky around midnight. Here’s an added bonus for evening observing. If fortune smiles upon you, the evening hours might offer you an earthgrazer, a looooong, slow, colorful meteor traveling horizontally across the evening sky. Earthgrazer meteors are rare but memorable. Perseid earthgrazers appear before midnight, when the radiant point of the shower is close to the horizon.

4. You want a dark sky for watching meteors. In a dark sky, you may see up to 60 meteors per hour at the shower’s peak. Will you see over 100 per hour, as in some years? Perhaps. But you won’t know unless you look. To find a dark sky near you, check out EarthSky’s worldwide Best Places to Stargaze map.

5. Give yourself at least an hour of observing time, because the meteors in meteor showers come in spurts and are interspersed with lulls. Remember, your eyes can take as long as 20 minutes to adapt to the darkness of night. So don’t rush the process.

6. Consider watching after the peak. People tend to focus on the peak mornings of meteor showers, and that’s entirely appropriate. But meteors in annual showers – which come from streams of debris left behind in space by comets – typically last weeks, not days. Perseid meteors usually start streaking the sky around July 17. They rise gradually to a peak, then fall off more rapidly. Still, we’ll see some Perseids – though at considerably reduced numbers – for some days after the peak mornings on August 11, 12 and 13.

7. Remember, all good things come to those who wait. Meteors are part of nature. There’s no way to predict exactly how many you’ll see on any given night. Find a good spot, watch, wait. You’ll see some.

Also remember, the the Delta Aquariid meteor shower is still rambling along steadily. You’ll see mostly Perseids, but also some Delta Aquariids in the mix. There’s an explanation of how to tell the difference toward the bottom of this article.

In the Northern Hemisphere, we rank the August Perseids as an all-time favorite meteor shower of every year. For us, this major shower takes place during the lazy, hazy days of summer, when many families are on vacation. And what could be more luxurious than taking a siesta in the heat of the day and watching this summertime classic in the relative coolness of night?

What causes the Perseids?

Comet Swift-Tuttle is the largest object known to repeatedly pass by Earth; its nucleus is about 16 miles (26 kilometers) wide. It last passed nearby Earth during its orbit around the sun in 1992, and the next time will be in 2126. But it won't be forgotten in the meantime, because Earth passes through the dust and debris it leaves behind every year, creating the annual Perseid meteor shower.

When you sit back to watch a meteor shower, you're actually seeing the pieces of comet debris heat up as they enter the atmosphere and burn up in a bright burst of light, streaking a vivid path across the sky as they travel at 37 miles (59 km) per second. When they're in space, the pieces of debris are called "meteoroids," but when they reach Earth's atmosphere, they're designated as "meteors." If a piece makes it all the way down to Earth without burning up, it graduates to "meteorite." Most of the meteors in the Perseids are much too small for that; they're about the size of a grain of sand.

What do you need to see them?

The key to seeing a meteor shower is "to take in as much sky as possible," Cooke said. Go to a dark area, in the suburbs or countryside, and prepare to sit outside for a few hours. It takes about 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark, and the longer you wait outside, the more you'll see. A rate of 60-70 meteors per hour, for instance, means around one meteor per minute, including faint streaks along with bright, fireball-generating ones.

Some skywatchers plan to camp out to see the Perseid meteor shower, but at the very least, viewers should bring something comfortable to sit on, some snacks and some bug spray. Then, just relax and look upward for the celestial show.

Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which they appear to originate. In this case, it's the constellation Perseus, which is located at latitudes between +90 degrees and -35 degrees and is named after the hero from mythology who killed Medusa.

How to Wish upon a Shooting Star?

1. Close you eyes and Relax
2. Meditate on things you Wish to have.
3. Now focus to things that your heart desire the most. Things that set you on Fire!
4. Narrow down your wishes to only one, your most important wish.
5. Stay focused on your Wish. Live it as it already happened!
6. Open your eyes and wait for the Shooting star. Once you see it Re-Live it one more time quickly!
7. Thank the Divine Forces that helped you!

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