Perseids 2013: Meteor shower peaks again on last night to enjoy show

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Stargazers on a tour with California Overland Desert relax on a dry lake bed in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and watch astronomer writer and photographer Dennis Mammana use a green lazer to point out objects in the night sky. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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A Catholic church is seen on a time-exposure during the Perseid meteor shower near the village of Bogushevichi in Belarus. (TATYANA ZENKOVICH / EPA)

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A time-exposure photograph of people watching for the Perseid meteor shower in the night sky near Yangon. (YE AUNG THU / AFP/Getty Images)

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A shooting star streaks across the sky over the archaeological site Stobi in Macedonia. (GEORGI LICOVSKI / EPA)

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A 15-minute exposure shows stars and meteors during the Perseid meteor shower in Imjingak Pyeonghwa-Nuri park in Paju, South Korea. (KIM JAE-SUN / EPA)

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Stargazers on a tour with California Overland Desert Excursions watch the night sky above Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in Southern California as a meteor streaks by during the annual Perseid meteor shower. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

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A multiple-exposure image shows the Perseid meteor shower lighting the sky near La Hiruela, on the mountains of the Sierra Norte de Madrid. (Dani Pozo / AFP/Getty Images)

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A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky over the Mojave Desert in Landers. (Paul Buck / EPA)

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Stars seen as streaks from a long camera exposure are seen behind and above a roadside silhouette of a Spanish fighting bull in Villarejo de Salvanes, central Spain. (Paul White / Associated Press)

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A shooting star illuminates the night sky near Sieversdorf, Germany. (Patrick Pleul / EPA)

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A shooting star of the Perseid meteor shower burns up in the atmosphere near Salgotarjan, northeast of Budapest. (Peter Komka / EPA)

By Deborah Netburn

Aug. 12, 2013 2:49 PM PT

Stargazers, you’ve got one more night to enjoy the Perseid meteor shower, one of the best meteor showers of 2013, so make the most of it.

The meteor shower is expected to put on almost as good a display Monday night into Tuesday morning as it did on Sunday night, and as you can see in the photo gallery above, Sunday night’s display was pretty breathtaking.

The shower occurs each year when Earth passes through a stream of dust and debris left in the wake of the comet Swift-Tuttle. These stray bits of comet dust slam into our atmosphere at 132,000 mph, where they burn up and create light streaks across the sky.

This is an especially good year to see the show because the moon is relatively thin and won’t drown out the meteors with its silvery light.

PHOTOS: Perseid Meteor Shower

The meteor shower gets going around 10:30 p.m., but the very best viewing will be from 2:30 a.m. to dawn.

Some of the brightest meteors will be bright enough to see even from light-polluted cities like Los Angeles, but the best way to watch the show is to get to the darkest area you can find.

Bring a chaise longue and a blanket, and make yourself comfortable so you can view with sky without craning your neck.

The meteors will emanate from the northeastern sky, so make sure you have a clear view of that piece of sky.

One more note: If you are thinking you will just check out the Perseids next year, think again. In 2014, the sky will be lit up by an almost full moon around Perseid time, drowning out many meteors with its light.

But in 2015, there will be just the tiniest sliver of a moon, creating viewing conditions that should be ideal.