It will be well worth the wait though; as many as 100 meteors can be seen per hour.

As a general rule, the Perseid meteors tend to be few and far between at nightfall and early evening and the best time to look is just prior to dawn. It will move much slower than the shooting stars, and will be visible over Irish skies until August 16. The debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle consists of dust and ice, and during the Perseid shower those burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing one of the most fantastic meteor showers of the year.

The oldest meteor shower known to Earth – the Perseids – is expected to be especially vivid tonight. You can experience one meteor per minute at the peak of this episode of the meteor shower.

“With very fast and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long “wakes” of light and color behind them as they streak through the Earth’s atmosphere”, NASA said.

Experts suggest the best views are to be had by looking northeast and finding a viewing spot away from city or street lights.

The Shenandoah National Park is holding a special presentation on Wednesday August 12 at 9 p.m.at the Byrd Visitor Center.

The Perseids-the most active and brightest annual meteor shower-began July 17 but will peak late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, according to NASA.

It is expected that we will pass through the densest portion of the comet leftovers around 1 a.m. Thursday morning.

The Perseids are named after the constellation of Perseus, because the meteors appear to originate from this single point (or radiant) when watching them from the ground.

The good news is you don’t need a telescope, you can see it with your naked eye.