Will Perseid shooting stars be visible during the Aug. 12 total solar eclipse?

A total solar eclipse and the peak of the Perseid meteor shower coincide on August 12-13—two rare events that'll probably ensure you only see one. The Perseids are debris from comet Swift-Tuttle, streaming through our atmosphere at speeds exceeding 133,000 miles per hour and producing up to one hundred shooting stars per hour under dark skies. During totality, the sky will dim but not darken enough to reveal most meteors. Space.com reports that experts say you'd need an exceptionally brilliant fireball to streak through the two to three minute window of totality to be visible. Bill Cooke at NASA said plainly: the most likely scenario is you'll see no meteors at all. Focus on the eclipse as it unfolds—there's plenty of time for Perseids when the sky is truly dark.

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