August's annual Perseids meteor shower peaks Sunday and Monday, promising perhaps 70 meteors an hour those evenings. "The Perseids are the good ones," says meteorite expert Bill Cooke of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Those dust grains come courtesy of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which circles the sun once every 133 years and leaves behind a debris trail. Different ones are responsible for other regular meteor showers, such as April's Lyrids, brought by Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, and November's Leonids brought by Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle.) The rule of thumb is that you should be able to see all the stars of the Big Dipper — seven stars if you are counting — to give yourself enough darkness to catch the shooting stars. Although the shooting stars seem to come from the constellation Perseus, don't look there to see them, Bakich advises. Instead, look about one-third of the sky down and away from the constellation to spot meteors streaking across the sky. While you are enjoying the sky show, satellite operators are buttoning up spacecraft to protect them from the onslaught of comet dust, says Cooke, who prepares meteor shower forecasts each year for space businesses. Clouds permitting, Cooke advises skywatchers this year to take their time and enjoy the nighttime show.