Look Up: Perseids Meteor Shower to Light Up Middle Georgia Skies through August

Stargazers in Middle Georgia and across the Northern Hemisphere will have a dazzling reason to stay up late this summer. The Perseids meteor shower starts the night of July 17th and reaches its peak the night of August 12 and into the early hours of August 13, 2025. 

Known as one of the brightest and most active meteor showers of the year, the Perseids will treat viewers to an estimated 25 meteors per hour under dark skies, with the potential for even more visible from rural areas free of city lights.

The Perseids are active from July 17 through August 23, but they reach their most spectacular display in mid-August, when Earth passes through the densest part of the trail of debris left by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. This comet, which takes 133 years to orbit the sun, last entered the inner solar system in 1992. Its nucleus is an enormous 16 miles wide - almost twice the size of the object believed to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, according to NASA.

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The Perseids are particularly famous for their speed and brilliance. Traveling at around 37 miles per second, the meteors often leave glowing trails or “wakes” of light as they burn up in Earth's atmosphere. On occasion, viewers might spot a fireball, which is a brighter and longer-lasting meteor that results from larger particles of comet dust.

Magic Carpet Media filmed some of the meteors and fireballs seen during 2024's Perseids meteor shower 

Though the meteor shower appears to radiate from the constellation Perseus, that part of the sky is merely a helpful guide for identifying the shower. The real source of the Perseids is the debris field left by Swift-Tuttle, which Earth passes through each summer. As these fragments collide with our atmosphere, they produce the fiery streaks seen overhead.

The best time to view the Perseids is during the pre-dawn hours, though some meteors may be visible as early as 10 p.m. Observers are encouraged to find a dark, unobstructed spot away from artificial lights, lie back, and give their eyes 20 to 30 minutes to adjust to the dark for the best experience.