'King Of Fireballs' Meteor Shower Peaks In MA This Week

MASSACHUSETTS — Star gazers across Southern New England are in for a treat this week as the Perseid Meteor Shower hits its peak on Friday.

The Perseids — which can bring up to 50 meteors per hour at peak — began in July, but the prime viewing times will occur on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, typically between midnight and 2 a.m.

But you may actually want to go out and catch of glimpse of the Perseids before those peak days. A full moon, called the Sturgeon Moon, will reach full strength on Thursday evening. With so much light in the sky, it could be a little harder to see the Perseid meteors.

Still, experts say many residents will still get a nice show this week due to the strength of the Perseids. Sky & Telescope magazine called the shower the "undisputed king of fireballs."

"Despite the light bath, there's still hope for a good show for a couple of reasons. First, the shower is prolific — Perseids flash by at the rate of more than one a minute. Even if you reduce that by more than half due to moonlight, that's still around 25 per hour. Second, this famous annual shower is the undisputed king of fireballs, according to Bill Cooke at NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office," the magazine wrote.

That said, there may be some cloud cover over the state late in the week. The National Weather Service is calling for rain and clouds on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights.