If you have been meaning to spend an evening somewhere away from the city lights, save the date. The Perseid meteor shower will peak over Bali on the night of 12–13 August, and the near-total absence of moonlight will make viewing conditions particularly good.
The Perseids are an annual meteor shower that occurs when Earth passes through a trail of dust left by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The particles enter the atmosphere at high speed and burn up, appearing from Earth as brief streaks of light commonly known as “shooting stars”. The shower is named after the constellation Perseus, where its radiant is located — the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate.
According to Indonesia’s Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BBMKG), the Perseids will be visible in Bali on the night of 12–13 August, starting at around 01:00 local time. The shower will peak that night.
Under ideal conditions, up to 100 meteors can be seen per hour. However, this number is unlikely in Bali because the island is in the Southern Hemisphere, where Perseus remains low above the horizon.
There is one major advantage this year. The Perseid peak will coincide with the new moon, which, according to BBMKG, will occur on 13 August at 01:37 Bali time. This means that bright moonlight will barely interfere with viewing.
To see more meteors, choose a spot away from city lights, with a dark sky and an unobstructed view. Give your eyes 20–30 minutes to adjust to the darkness first. You will not need a telescope or binoculars — the meteors will be visible to the naked eye.
The Perseids can be seen from mid-July until the end of August, but the best night for viewing will be 12–13 August, when the shower reaches its peak.
You can add one right now!