The 2023 Perseid meteor shower peaks this weekend

The Perseid meteor shower will peak this weekend as Earth makes a yearly dive through debris left behind by a Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.

The peak activity of the Perseid meteor shower will occur around 04:00 EDT (0800 GMT) on Sunday. Aug. 13.

The Perseids are a yearly highlight for meteor hunters who, in the right conditions, could see as many as 100 fireballs and light trails per hour from the meteor shower, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich, with even more potentially visible at the shower's peak.

This year the Perseid meteor shower is active between July 17 and Aug. 24. The Perseids takes its name from the fact that its meteors appear to streak towards Earth from the constellation Perseus.

This means the best time to see the Perseid meteor shower is when the radiant in Perseus is above the horizon. For skywatchers based in New York City, the radiant point of the Perseids is circumpolar, which means it is always overhead, meaning the meteor shower is visible all night after the sun has set and the sky has darkened.

From New York City on Sunday, meteor hunters should see the radiant of the Perseids at around 70⁰ over the horizon.

In favorable weather and away from Earth-based light sources, In the Sky estimates that sky watchers observing the Perseids peak on Sunday could see as many as 141 meteors per hour.

The meteors of the Perseids may appear to stream to Earth from the distant stars of the constellation Perseus, but the actual origin of the meteors is located in the solar system.