Each August, the Earth passes through a stream of comet debris from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.  The comet will not be back our way until 2126… so… I wouldn’t wait up for that one.  Along the orbital path, the comet has left behind small bits and pieces, most no bigger than a grain of sand. These run into our planet’s atmosphere and burn up due to friction. The result of this friction-filled reentry is a meteor, a rapid streak of light through the sky.  This shower usually gives us about 60 meteors per hour at peak, and many fireballs: bright meteors that can even be bright enough to cast a shadow.  How to see it?

• Pick a clear night closest to the peak, which is on August 11th/12th/13th.
• Go to a dark sky site: avoid lights and cities. The darker, the better.
• Bring something comfortable to lie down on: sleeping bags are good.
• Bring food, drink, and bug spray if needed for your location.
• Spend the night time hours looking up at the sky! No optics required other than your eyeballs.
• Avoid lights!  No cell phones. No flashlights. Your eyes take between 30-60 minutes to become dark adapted, and you lose that dark adaptation instantly if you see a light. Avoid lights!
• The shower appears to come from a spot in the sky in the constellation Perseus. This rises just before midnight, so best observing will be after that, into the morning hours.
• Have fun!