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Ephemeris: 08/11/2026 – The Perseid meteor shower peaks tomorrow night

August 11, 2026 Leave a comment Go to comments

This is Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 11th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 13 minutes, setting at 8:54, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:41. The Moon, 1 day before new, will rise at 6:22 tomorrow morning.

The Perseid meteor shower at its peak and will be visible all night tomorrow night. It won’t have to compete with the moon since it’s new, and incidently will eclipse the sun. The meteors will be seen all over the sky. Perseid meteors can be backtracked to a spot below the W shaped constellation of Cassiopeia, in the area of the constellation Perseus. As the night progresses, the radiant point will be rising higher in northeast. So lay down on a blanket in a dark location, keep mosquito repellent handy, dress warmly, because the ground and air will be chilly and dewy. Bring some hot coffee or chocolate to drink. And enjoy 60 meteors an hour, or more, at the peak after midnight. They will be near peak for the next few nights.

The astronomical event times given in this blog are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (Lat 44.7° N, Long 85.7° W; EDT, UT – 4 hours) unless stated otherwise. Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Star chart for 10 PM.
The sky dome at approximately 10 PM when it is getting dark enough to spot the Perseids. Even though this is near the actual peak of the shower where the earth is going through the central part of the meteoroid stream, due to the radiant being low in the northeast (upper left in the diagram), the numbers of meteors will not be great. However, the meteor trails will be long since they are hitting the atmosphere above us at a glancing angle.
Star chart for 4 AM.
The sky dome at approximately 4:30 AM shows the radiant of the Perseid shower much higher in the northeast allowing, a great many meteors to be seen, perhaps 60 or so an hour. The meteors will be seen all over the sky, but true Perseids can be traced back to the radiant. There are several minor meteor showers also in progress, so some of them may also appear.
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