The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight! The waning gibbous Moon will brighten up the sky significantly, but grab a blanket, stretch out on the lawn and try to spot a few.

The radiant of the shower is in the constellation Perseus. The meteors will originate from that area, but will be visible across the entire sky. Try watching after sunset and before the Moon rises at 11pm. Or, watch between 2am to dawn (technically on the 13th), but face north and keep the Moon behind you.

What causes the meteor shower? Sand grain-sized debris shed from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle were left in Earth’s orbital track as the comet crossed it. As Earth moves through that section of our orbit every August, we’re treated to a meteor shower. We only see the bright flash of light created by the shock wave in front of the bits of debris as they enter our atmosphere and compress the air in front of them.

More info from the International Meteor Organization.