Perseids 2027

In 2027 the Perseids are watched over two nights in a row, 12–13 and 13–14 August, and the two carry equal weight: the peak falls on the morning of 13 August European time, when it is already light. The main obstacle of the year is a nearly full waxing Moon. It hangs above the horizon into the second half of the night, so real observing begins after moonset and lasts about two hours, until dawn twilight. Look high, into the north-eastern half of the sky. Everything else comes down to cloud: in southern Europe the peak night was clear almost every year, north of the Alps noticeably less often than one year in two.

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Which night to choose when the peak falls in daylight

The Perseids are born from the dust of comet 109P/Swift–Tuttle, which orbits the Sun roughly every 130 years. Earth passes through its trail from 17 July to 24 August (according to the IMO calendar), so lone shooting stars are visible all those weeks. The stream is densest in the nights around the peak.

In 2027 the maximum arrives on 13 August at 08:19 UTC, which is 10:19 Central European Summer Time and 09:19 in the UK, Ireland and Portugal. The night before the peak and the night after sit roughly equidistant from it. That is why the clear-sky odds in the tables above come as a pair, “first / second”, and it makes sense to head out for both nights: if clouds spoil one, the other remains.

When to look: the Moon sets the schedule

On the night of 12–13 August 2027 the Moon is 84% lit, 86% by the moment of maximum, and slightly more again on the second night. It shines from evening onward and sets after midnight (computed from the JPL DE440s ephemerides). While it stands above the horizon the sky is washed out and faint meteors vanish.

The working window opens at moonset and closes with dawn twilight, when the Sun climbs above −12°. At the best sites in southern Europe this is 2.0–2.2 hours; the page gives them their own column, “moonless dark hours”. The geometry here favours the observer: IMO considers the radiant high enough from 22.00–23.00 local time, and by morning it climbs even higher, bringing more meteors. The evening with the Moon up is the time for travelling and laying out your gear.

Which part of the sky to watch

The radiant lies in Perseus (RA 48°, Dec +58°). At German latitudes it stands low in the north-north-east in the evening and has climbed round to the north-east by dawn. During dark hours at the best sites in Europe its altitude reaches 63–67°, on the Canaries 58°.

Looking straight at the radiant is pointless: trails near it are short. IMO advises shifting your gaze 20–40° to the side and holding the centre of your field of view at an altitude of 50–70°. Meteors appear across the whole sky. To tell a Perseid from a random meteor, trace the trail backwards in your mind: it should point back to Perseus.

Where in Europe the chance of a clear peak night is highest

A peak night counts as clear if it gathered at least 2 hours with cloud cover ≤ 20% while the Sun was below −12°, within that night ± 1, according to the ERA5 reanalysis for 2006–2025. This is climate, not a forecast: shares of past nights. It does not replace a weather forecast; check that a couple of days before you set out.

The south wins by a wide margin. In Greece, Italy and Spain in August 9 peak nights out of 10 or more came out clear: Samaria National Park on Crete 100% / 100%, Sila National Park in Calabria 92% / 95%, Garajonay National Park on the Canaries 92% / 93%. Port-Cros National Park in the south of France gives 80% / 75%, Peneda-Gerês National Park in Portugal 68% / 65%. The Biosphärenreservat Rhön in Germany, at 45% / 43%, no longer manages even one clear night in two. Britain, the Netherlands and Ireland stay within 15–32%: Cranborne Chase 28% / 32%, Dunes of Texel National Park 28% / 28%, Wicklow Mountains National Park 17% / 15%.

A sample case: an observer from central Europe is choosing between a weekend in Rhön and a trip to Crete. In Rhön the peak night was clear in past years less often than one year in two; at Samaria clouds never got in the way once across 2006–2025. If the trip is for this one shower alone, the south is the safer bet. If you can only travel a short distance and by car, keep both nights free and decide on the forecast. In Cranborne Chase, for example, the second night is a touch more reliable than the first.

Darkness: light pollution and the north where darkness never comes

Light pollution strips away meteors just as effectively as the Moon. In a city only the brightest ones show; outside town there are several times as many. The column “darker than … of Europe’s land” in the places table (NASA VIIRS 2025) shows what share of land is lit more brightly than that spot. Official dark sky parks are listed in the DarkSky registry.

In Iceland, and anywhere north of 60° N generally, the Sun does not sink below −12° in mid-August, which is why the table shows “—” there. According to IMO, the shower is poorly visible north of roughly 60° N.

How many meteors to expect

The Perseid ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) equals 100. That is the ceiling: the number of meteors per hour one observer would see under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant at the zenith. In practice the radiant is lower, the sky brighter, and in 2027 there is the Moon as well, so the actual count will be smaller. Particles enter the atmosphere at 59 km/s and leave short bright trails. The Maslov model (IMO) indicates that in 2027 Earth will pass through sections of the stream perturbed by Jupiter, and activity may turn out higher than usual. That is a calculation, so plan on an ordinary rate.

How to prepare for a night of observing

1. Site: away from city lights, with open sky to the north-east and overhead.
2. Timing: find the hour of moonset for your spot and be in place by it; about 2 hours remain until dawn twilight.
3. Position: lying on a mat or in a deck chair, centre of gaze at an altitude of 50–70°.
4. Eyes take half an hour or more to adapt to the dark (NASA). A phone screen resets that adaptation, so keep it switched off.
5. Backup plan: a cloud forecast a couple of days ahead and readiness to move the outing to the second night.

Other showers of 2026–2027 are gathered on the meteor showers page, and how the odds and dark hours are worked out is described in the methodology.

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

• Radiant: the point in the sky from which the meteors of a shower seem to fly out; for the Perseids it lies in Perseus.
• ZHR: zenithal hourly rate, how many meteors per hour one observer would see under a perfectly dark sky with the radiant at the zenith.
• Moonless dark hours: the time when the Moon is below the horizon and the Sun below −12°; a column in the places table.

Perseids 2027 in brief

• Nights: 12–13 and 13–14 August 2027, both equally good; maximum on 13 August at 08:19 UTC.
• Hours: after moonset and until dawn twilight, about 2 hours in the second half of the night.
• Direction: north-east, gaze 20–40° away from the radiant and at an altitude of 50–70°.
• Weather: in southern Europe 9 peak nights out of 10 or more are clear, in Germany under half, in Britain, the Netherlands and Ireland 15–32%; make the call based on the forecast.
• Meteor count: ZHR 100 as the limit, in reality fewer because of the Moon; the IMO model allows for a surge.