Night Sky

Look up Friday and Saturday nights (Aug. 11 and 12) for this year's Perseid meteor shower peak.

And in much the same way that the Tempel-Tuttle comet leaves a trail of debris along its orbit to produce the spectacular Leonid meteors of November, Swift-Tuttle produces a debris trail along its orbit, causing the Perseids.

As (bad) luck would have it, this year, the moon turned full on Aug. 7, and it will be at a rather bright waning gibbous phase several nights later, seriously hampering observation of the peak of the Perseids, predicted to occur on the night of Aug. 11-12.

COMET CRUMBS

We know today that these meteors are the leftover debris shed by Comet Swift-Tuttle along its orbit.

Sometimes, just a single spectacular object can make an entire night of watching worthwhile.

Every once in a while, a Perseid fireball will blaze forth, bright enough to be quite spectacular and more than capable of attracting attention even in bright moonlight.

The moon will be hovering below and to the left of the Great Square of Pegasus these nights and not all that far from the constellation Perseus, from where the meteors will appear to emanate (hence the name "Perseid").

Discovered back in 1862, this comet takes approximately 130 years to circle the sun.

Editor's note: If you snap an awesome photo of Perseid meteors that you'd like to share with Space.com and our news partners for a potential story or gallery, send images and comments in to [email protected].

The moon arrives at last quarter on Aug. 14, and thereafter, its light becomes much less objectionable.

But bright moonlight will flood the sky through most of those two key nights and will certainly play havoc with any serious attempts to observe these meteors.

But in 2018, the peak night will coincide with a new moon, making for a much different story.