YozoraAtlasyo·zo·ra (夜空) n. [Jap.] night sky

When is the best time to see the Perseids in 2027?

The Perseids peak on the night of August 12 to 13, 2027: the IMO expects the main maximum on August 13 between 08:00 and 10:00 UTC, and the broad peak keeps rates high through the whole night in both Europe and North America. The catch in 2027 is an 87% moon that lights the evening and sets after midnight, leaving about 2 h of dark, moonless sky before dawn on both sides of the Atlantic. In that window the radiant is about 60° up, worth about 95 meteors an hour from a dark sky. North of about 57° the sky never gets fully dark in mid-August, and from Australia and New Zealand the radiant stays near the horizon.

Peak time and rates from the International Meteor Organization's 2027 calendar; the radiant, sun and moon are calculated for each of the 4,176 places on Yozora Atlas. Geometry, not a weather forecast. All 2027 showers: meteor showers 2027.

When does the moon set on Perseid night in your time zone?

Clock timeMoon setsDark and moonlessBest momentAt the best moment, Bortle 3 sky
HST Honolulu03:102 h04:50, radiant 50°84 an hour
AKDT Aleutian Islands World War II National Monument02:301 h03:10, radiant 52°87 an hour
MST Phoenix, Vancouver (British Columbia), Surrey02:202 h04:00, radiant 59°94 an hour
PDT Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose02:502 h04:30, radiant 60°95 an hour
CST Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon02:101.5 h03:40, radiant 59°94 an hour
MDT Denver, El Paso, Albuquerque02:502 h04:40, radiant 61°96 an hour
CDT Chicago, Houston, San Antonio02:502 h04:40, radiant 60°95 an hour
EST Winnipeg02:002 h03:40, radiant 60°95 an hour
EDT New York City, Toronto, Brooklyn02:502 h04:40, radiant 61°96 an hour
ADT Halifax (Nova Scotia), Sydney (Nova Scotia), Moncton02:202 h04:10, radiant 61°96 an hour
NDT St. John's02:002 h03:40, radiant 61°96 an hour
BST London (England), Birmingham (England), Glasgow01:202 h03:00, radiant 58°93 an hour
IST Dublin, Cork, Limerick01:402 h03:20, radiant 58°93 an hour
WEST Lisbon, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Porto03:002 h05:00, radiant 60°95 an hour
CEST Berlin, Madrid, Rome01:502 h03:40, radiant 60°95 an hour
EEST Riga, Athens (Attica), Vilnius02:302 h04:40, radiant 59°94 an hour
AWST Judbarra / Gregory National Park02:501.5 h04:30, radiant 15°28 an hour
ACST Darwin, Palmerston03:502 h05:40, radiant 19°36 an hour
AEST Townsville, Cairns, Mackay03:301.5 h05:20, radiant 14°27 an hour

Middle values of the places in each time zone. "Dark and moonless" counts the hours with the sun 18° or more down, the moon below the horizon and the radiant 10° or more up. The best moment is the radiant's highest point in that window.

Most Perseids in the moonless hours: dark skies with the radiant high

Most Perseids once the weather counts too

  1. Nez Perce National Forest Idaho · Bortle 2 · 03:40, radiant 62°97/h
  2. John Day Fossil Beds National Monument Oregon · Bortle 2 · 04:00, radiant 62°97/h
  3. Fremont-Winema National Forest Oregon · Bortle 3 · 04:20, radiant 62°97/h
  4. Shoshone National Forest Wyoming · Bortle 3 · 04:20, radiant 62°97/h
  5. Baxter State Park Maine · Bortle 3 · 03:30, radiant 62°97/h
  6. Malheur National Forest Oregon · Bortle 3 · 04:00, radiant 62°97/h
  7. Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument Maine · Bortle 3 · 03:30, radiant 62°97/h
  8. Grand Teton National Park Wyoming · Bortle 3 · 04:30, radiant 62°97/h
  9. Crater Lake National Park Oregon · Bortle 3 · 04:20, radiant 62°97/h
  10. Algonquin Provincial Park Ontario · Bortle 3 · 04:10, radiant 62°97/h
  1. Samaria National Park Crete · Bortle 3 · 05:00, radiant 59°90/h
  2. Mendocino National Forest California · Bortle 3 · 04:30, radiant 60°79/h
  3. Sounio National Park Attica · Bortle 4 · 04:50, radiant 59°78/h
  4. Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park California · Bortle 3 · 04:40, radiant 62°78/h
  5. Humboldt Redwoods State Park California · Bortle 3 · 04:40, radiant 61°77/h
  6. Klamath National Forest California · Bortle 3 · 04:30, radiant 61°75/h
  7. Six Rivers National Forest California · Bortle 3 · 04:30, radiant 61°75/h
  8. Smith River National Recreation Area California · Bortle 3 · 04:30, radiant 61°75/h
  9. Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Oregon · Bortle 3 · 04:30, radiant 62°74/h
  10. Lassen Volcanic National Park California · Bortle 3 · 04:30, radiant 62°73/h

Left: meteors an hour at the best moonless moment for one observer under each place's own sky. Right: the same for places at Bortle 4 or darker, times the share of August nights that are clear there (NASA POWER cloud record 2014 to 2023).

Perseids 2027 in every town and park

Best time: the radiant's highest point in the dark, moonless hours of August 12 to 13. The nearest dark sky is the quickest drive to a Bortle 4 spot. The largest places first; search for any other.

PlaceBest timeRadiantMeteors an hour hereNearest dark sky, meteors an hour thereClear August nights
London England03:10 BST (2 h moonless)59°19 Bortle 881 Picnic site near Wilton, 1 h 44 min3.5
New York City New York04:10 EDT (2 h moonless)60°20 Bortle 881 Burnt Mills Parking Area, 2 h 09 min7.4
Los Angeles California04:40 PDT (2 h moonless)59°19 Bortle 881 Fishbowls Trailhead, 2 h 18 min26.3
Berlin Berlin03:00 CEST (2 h moonless)57°28 Bortle 779 Picnic site near Baumgarten, 1 h 08 min4.6
Madrid Madrid05:30 CEST (2 h moonless)60°20 Bortle 881 Car park near El Quexigal, 1 h 24 min19.6
Toronto Ontario04:20 EDT (2 h moonless)61°20 Bortle 882 Campground near Kirkfield, 2 h 06 min1
Brooklyn New York04:10 EDT (2 h moonless)60°20 Bortle 881 Parking area near Fallsdale, 3 h 00 min9
Chicago Illinois04:00 CDT (2 h moonless)61°20 Bortle 882 Parking area near Clarks, 1 h 57 min11.1
Rome Lazio04:20 CEST (2 h moonless)61°20 Bortle 882 Area picnic Cerreto, 1 h 22 min24.8
Queens New York04:10 EDT (2 h moonless)61°20 Bortle 882 Parking area near Fallsdale, 2 h 58 min9
Houston Texas05:20 CDT (2 h moonless)56°19 Bortle 878 Parking area near Sea Breeze, 1 h 33 min10.8
Paris Île-de-France04:20 CEST (2 h moonless)60°20 Bortle 881 Car park near Grandchamp, 1 h 08 min6.7

What could make the 2027 Perseids stronger?

The IMO calendar notes that in 2027 the Earth passes through a part of the stream that Jupiter has pulled about 0.006 AU closer, which Maslov expects to raise the rate by 10 to 20 percent (ZHR 110 to 120), with more to come in 2028. Older dust trails of the parent comet, 109P/Swift-Tuttle, could add to it: Maslov names August 13 near 02:00 UTC, Vaubaillon August 13 at 02:16 UTC, and Jenniskens lists encounters on August 12 at 19:18 and 23:46 UTC (the second possibly strong) and August 13 near 07:00 UTC. These are model predictions, not certainties; the counts on this page use the working ZHR of 110.

How the Perseids numbers are calculated

Peak time, ZHR (110), radiant (right ascension 48°, declination +58°) and population index (r = 2.2) are from the IMO 2027 Meteor Shower Calendar. Each place's clock time comes from the time zone of its nearest GeoNames town. Sun, moon and radiant are worked out in 10-minute steps through the night; full darkness means the sun 18° or more below the horizon, and the moon counts as up when its center is above the horizon. Meteors an hour are the ZHR times the sine of the radiant's height, divided by r for every magnitude the sky falls short of 6.5, using the faintest stars of each Bortle class (Bortle 2001: magnitude 6.5 for classes 1 to 3, 6.3 for class 4, 5.8, 5.5, 5.0, 4.5 and 4.0 for classes 5 to 9). They assume a clear sky, one observer and an open view in every direction; most people count fewer. For each place the count is for the best moonless moment of the night of August 12 to 13; the peak is broad enough (the IMO's traditional maximum spans about August 13, 03:00 to 16:00 UTC) that the full ZHR is used. 301 places with no full darkness and 256 where the radiant stays below 10° get no count.

Sources

Checked as of October 25, 2026.