The sky map shows that the meteor shower’s location (yellow plus sign) is right above the head of the warrior Perseus, formed by the constellation Perseus – Photo: SKY AND TELESCOPE
This major meteor shower actually started on July 17, with the number of meteors initially sparse but gradually increasing.
After peak night, you can still see this meteor shower until August 24, but it will be less frequent.
Meanwhile, countries closer to the North Pole, such as Canada, Russia and even some parts of the United States, can observe the peak night of the meteor shower amid the magical light of the aurora borealis on the night of August 11 and early morning of August 12 or the night of August 12 and early morning of August 13, depending on the time zone.
This is because the Sun is at the peak of its 11-year cycle and has just released three fireballs, or coronal mass ejections (CMEs), at the same time.
These fireballs take 12-48 hours to reach Earth, and will hit the magnetosphere on August 11 and 12, causing consecutive geomagnetic storms at G1 and G2 levels, according to Space Weather.
Geomagnetic storms can cause beautiful auroras, but they come with some problems, such as disrupting shortwave radio signals and briefly jamming navigation systems.