Look up! The Perseids, often considered the best annual meteor shower, will begin soon.

NASA predicts the astronomical phenomenon will start July 17 and continue until Aug. 23 as Earth travels through the debris path of a long-gone comet called Swift-Tuttle.

NASA said the peak — or the time when there will theoretically be the most visible meteors — will be the night of Aug. 12 into Aug. 13.

How to view the Perseid meteor shower

As with any event that involves looking at the night sky, the darker the area you can safely get to, the better.

Around Baltimore, that means traveling outside of the I-695 Beltway for your best chances of a dark sky. There are maps online that show how relatively dark or bright the night sky will be to help you find a place to travel.

The meteor shower is best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere in the predawn hours, according to NASA, though they are sometimes visible as early as 10 p.m.

The moon will be in its waning gibbous phase — or more than half full — during the Perseid meteor shower’s peak, which means the sky will be bright. You may have to block out the moon to get the best view.

The point in the sky where the meteors will appear to come from, called the radiant, is about due northeast in the sky near the constellation Perseus. Though that’s why the shower is called the Perseids, it’s worth noting that the meteors do not come from the constellation.

The Perseids are famed for their colorful and frequent fireballs, which often leave long wakes of color in the night sky. Viewers can expect between 50 and 100 meteors per hour toward the shower’s peak.

And there’s no need for concern or anxiety — very few, if any, of the meteors from the Perseid shower end up hitting the ground and becoming meteorites.

That’s because they come from the debris tail of a comet and are mostly ice, so they burn up in the atmosphere before hitting the ground.