During the second week of August 2026, the night skies will light up with small flashes, one after another, in one of the most impressive astronomical phenomena for star lovers.
It’s about the meteor shower, commonly known as the Perseid meteor shower.
The American Meteor Society defines this phenomenon as the observation of several meteors that radiate, or originate, from a point in the night sky called radiant.
These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris, called meteoroids, that enter the Earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speeds and in parallel trajectories, causing the phenomenon to visually appear like a shower.
Although the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Meteor Data Center records more than 900 suspected meteor showers a year, only about a hundred are well established. However, most are not visible. Many can be easily observed, they are more active and one of them is the Perseid rain.
This meteor shower is one of the most famous because it is also one of the brightest and, depending on how clear the skies are, it can be seen with the naked eye.
Generally, the Perseids occur each year between July 17 and August 24, and reach their maximum splendor between the 9th and 13th of the eighth month.
The speed of these meteors can exceed 50 kilometers per second and their activity rate can reach 200 meteors per hour, according to the National Geographic Institute of Spain.
In 2026, its peak will be between Wednesday, August 12 and Thursday, August 13, between 4 and 6 a.m., although it is considered that the activity may be intense between 11 p.m. on the 12th and 11 a.m. on the 13th.
According to Edgar Castro Bathen, director of the Institute of Astronomy at the Galileo University in Guatemala, the Perseids are known as “the forbidden meteor shower”because the climatic conditions of the country during that month have not allowed astronomers to observe them for many years.
According to the astronomer, the observation of this phenomenon is like “a lottery”since it is not known if it will be possible to observe it, which is why it is recommended to be prepared so that, if the weather permits, can be observed.
What is the origin of this meteor shower?
The Perseids are small particles of dust and rock released by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. This icy body, about 26 kilometers in diameter, completes an orbit around the Sun every 133 years and leaves behind a dense trail of cosmic debris.
According to the medium The Independentthis meteor shower always occurs in the same date range because the Earth crosses that cloud of debris on its return to the Sun. By coming into contact with the atmosphere at such high speeds, friction heats these “grains of sand” until vaporizing them at more than 80 kilometers high. It is precisely that fleeting incandescence that, from the ground, is perceived as a bright flash.
Additionally, the Perseids are named after the constellation Perseus because the direction from which This meteor shower seems to come from, it coincides with that constellation.