Any night from now until around August 19th you will have a good chance of seeing Perseid meteors in the sky. “These objects are tiny bits of rock and debris from an old comet, which is named Swift-Tuttle after the astronomers who discovered it in 1862.”
“Every year in early August, Earth passes through the comet Swift-Tuttle’s orbit and sweeps up some of this debris. As the tiny rocks encounter the thin upper atmosphere of the Earth, the air is heated to incandescence and we see a rapid streak of light.”
“While you can see the Perseids any night this week, your chances will be better after local midnight (1 a.m. if you’re on daylight saving time) on any particular night.
“Find a spot shielded from stray light, including the moon, which will be rising in the east in the wee hours of the morning. Stretch out on a lawn chair. At first you will just see the stars: enjoy the view while your eyes are getting adapted to the dark. You don’t have to look in any particular direction.”
“The Perseid meteors appear to radiate from a point between the constellations Perseus and Cassiopeia, in the northeastern section of the sky.”