The Perseids are best viewed on August 12 and 13 but can be seen from now through August 24 as the Earth passes through debris left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle. Overlapping with the bright Perseids is the Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower, which peak on July 30 but are visible until August 21. The source of this meteor shower isn’t known for certain.
Both showers are best seen late at night, but I’m going to issue you a challenge. Saturday August 23 is the new moon. That night, and the nights around it will be moonless. I want you to go out at Sunset, and watch as the sky darkens, let yourself get beguiled by fireflies that will make you think the brightest meteor ever is streaking through the trees… and then let yourself feel whatever it is you feel as you see satellite after satellite streak overhead.
I still remember the first time I saw a satellite with my eyes. I was camping in the mountains and had gone to sit on a rock and be a moody teenager in the dark. There wasn’t a light to be seen but the stars, and when one of them moved I held my breath until I realized what it was.
But the last time I tried to see the Perseids, the fireflies and the LEO satellites were far more numerous than the shooting stars, and trying to do early evening astrophotography just wasn’t possible for all the starlinks buzzing by.
We are losing the night I got to see as a child and moving toward something from Wall-E. While we still can see stars and meteors… and fireflies… go watch the night, beginning to end.