Perseid Meteor Shower To Hit Peak Over Wyoming Tonight

The 2025 Perseid meteor shower is expected to hit it's peak tonight over Wyoming and the rest of the continental United States.

What Are The Perseid Meteors?

The American Meteor Society says the Perseid meteors are made up of debris left over from the 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Even though the comet has an orbit of 133 years and last visited our part of the solar system in 1992. the debris that it has left behind on it it's many trips through the solar system through history are the Perseid meteors that can be seen annually in the late summer months.

The best time to see the display will be during the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 13th.

According to space.com, under normal circumstances up to 100 meteors might be visible during the peak of Perseid season. But website says the visibility of the meteor shower will be somewhat impaired this year "in the glare of the 86%-lit waning gibbous moon."

But on the bright side, the weather in southeast Wyoming should be favorable, with mostly clear skies in the the forecast for Cheyenne. Laramie's forecast is for partly cloudy skies overnight, according to the Cheyenne Office of the National Weather Service. If you are really serious about seeing seeing the meteors, the best viewing will be away from populated areas. That is because the light pollution in more populated areas dims the visibility in the night skies.

The University of Wyoming Planetarium will be hosting a viewing of the meteor shower tonight between 7 and 8 pm. You can get more information here. While the meteors will be active through August 23, tonight will be the peak for 2025..