This year’s Perseid meteor shower should be a good one, putting on a great show for stargazers who stay up late to view the annual shooting stars. The best time to watch is generally between midnight and dawn, when the earth’s rotation is moving into the sun, placing the meteor stream directly in the earth’s path.
For viewers in North America, premium viewing time will be between midnight and five a.m. on Wednesday, August 12, but the Perseids may also be visible late Tuesday night.
The Perseid meteor shower for 2009 will not be quite as spectacular as in the past, because of a bright moon this year, which will interfere with the most faint meteors, as they reach their peak on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Every August the Earth passes through a trail of dust and debris remaining from the Comet Swift-Tuttle, which causes the annual Perseid meteor shower.
This map from Yahoo! News illustrates the shower’s location in the August night sky. (Source: http://news.yahoo.com/)