Halley's Comet, twice a year, and this is the better half.
Debris shed by Halley over thousands of years, met on the way in rather than the way out. The radiant never gets high from mid-northern latitudes, so the meteors arrive at a shallow angle: fewer of them, but long, slow ones that cross half the sky.
The radiant rises everywhere south of 89°N. From mid-northern latitudes (40°N) it climbs to about 23° before dawn. From mid-southern latitudes (35°S) it climbs to about 47° before dawn.
The height is the radiant's, the point the meteors seem to come from, on the peak night, counting only the hours when the Sun is at least 12° below the horizon. The lower it is, the fewer meteors reach you: at 30° up you would see about half the rate above, before the Moon and your own sky take their share.
| Maximum | Moon | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| 6 May 2026 | Waning Gibbous, 84% | A bright Moon through the pre-dawn hours, which is exactly when the rate peaks. |
| 6 May 2027 | New Moon, 0% | With effectively no Moon tonight, this is as good as the Perseids gets. |
| 6 May 2028 | Waxing Gibbous, 89% | A bright Moon up for most of the night. Expect the brightest meteors only. |
| 6 May 2029 | Last Quarter, 44% | Half-lit and rising around midnight, straight into the best hours. |
The Moon is taken at 00:00 UTC on the morning of maximum. Whether it is actually above your horizon at three in the morning depends on where you are standing — the live calendar works that out for your own location. Showers are almost all better after midnight, when your side of the planet turns to face the direction of travel and starts sweeping meteors up instead of waiting to be caught.
Nothing. Meteors cross too much sky too fast for binoculars or a telescope to be anything but a handicap — the equipment for this is a coat, a chair that tips back, and twenty minutes for your eyes to adapt. Look up and slightly away from the radiant rather than straight at it; meteors near the radiant are coming at you end-on and leave the shortest trails.
Peak night and rate: International Meteor Organization, Meteor Shower Calendar (opens in a new tab). Moon phases computed here.