A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky between the hoodoos named Thor’s Hammer (L) and the Three Sisters (R) early on August 13, 2016 in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. The Perseid meteors tend to be brighter, lengthier, and more spectacular because of their origin from Comet Swift-Tuttle, while their recurrence makes them one of the most reliable showers year after year. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Your Viewing Guide To The Best Meteor Shower In Years: 2018’s Perseids

Three great things all align this August, making the Perseids a can’t-miss show. Here’s how to take advantage.

When it comes to meteor showers, we have these dazzling pictures in our minds of seeing streaks of light appear all over the sky: rapidly, brightly, and profusely. Yet in real life, many of us have had experiences that pale in comparison, where we might spend an entire hour outside only to see five (or even fewer) faint meteors. Unless conditions are really right, meteor showers can be a tremendous disappointment.

But during the peak of this year’s Perseids, from August 11–13, you’ll have a chance to see the best meteor shower in years. They should be rapid, bright, and relatively frequent. And most importantly, the skies should cooperate. Here’s the science of how it works, and what you should do to make the most of it.

As they orbit the Sun, comets and asteroids can break up a little bit, with debris between the chunks along the path of the orbit getting stretched out over time, and causing the meteor showers we see when the Earth passes through that debris stream. (NASA / JPL-CALTECH / W. REACH (SSC/CALTECH))

Every time a comet or asteroid orbits close to the Sun, the combination of heat and tidal forces puts strains and stresses on that rocky, icy body. Volatile compounds boil or sublimate, fractures and fissures…