The Perseids return

The Perseids reach their peak in the pre-dawn after Thursday has turned into Friday.

“This is going to be a great year,” said Michael Bakich, senior editor of Astronomy magazine. “The moon hit its new phase at 11 p.m. Monday, and a thin crescent moon will be low in the western sky after sunset Thursday, so there won’t be any moon to interfere with the shower all night long.”

From a dark site, meteor watchers should see an average of 60 meteors an hour with the possibility of 100 — Perseid meteors travel at 133,000 mph...

After midnight is the best viewing for meteors because before midnight, a person anywhere on the Earth is on the trailing side of the planet as it rotates in its orbit around the sun; that same person is rolling into the comet’s debris after midnight.

Experts generally recommend lying down on the ground or a reclining chair - not craning the neck constantly to look up.