High Maintenance Mom

The Perseid meteor shower, possibly the best display of meteors or shooting stars, will peak on the morning of Aug. 12th. At its peak and away from the lights of the city, you can often see 50 to 100 bright meteors per hour. Which means that with patience you will most likely still be able to see a few from your home. Of course, if you want to go camping away from city lights, you will see many more...

This year is particularly good for viewing the meteors because the dawn hours around Aug. 12th will be dark as the quarter moon will have already set.

The predawn hours are better for viewing meteors than the evening hours due to our orbital motion through space. The Earth is traveling into the meteors so the best time to see them is when we are facing forward (at dawn) and can "run into them" instead of facing away from them at dusk (see diagram on space.com).

There are also at least ten other minor meteor displays during July and August.

Among these are the Southern Delta Aquarids, which can produce faint, medium speed meteors; the Alpha Capricornids, described as slow, bright, long trailed meteors and the Kappa Cygnids which are classified as "slow moving and sometimes brilliant."

Summertime meteors, occasionally flitting across your line of sight are especially noticeable between mid-July and the third week of August. And between Aug. 3 and 15, there are no fewer than six different minor displays. (from Shooting Stars: Gear up for Summer Sky Shows - includes more information about the minor meteor displays)

Also see The 2005 Perseid Meteor Shower (NASA).