The Perseids from Hawaiʻi
When the Perseids peak this year from Hawaiʻi, how high the radiant climbs at 19.8°N, and what the moon does to the night.
The 2027 peak night, computed for Hawaiʻi
Thursday, August 12
Best around 4:39 AM HST, when the radiant tops out about 48° up.
The maximum itself lands about 8 hours before the sky gets dark here. What Hawaiʻi gets is the hours just after it.
The moon is 84% lit that night. Only the brightest meteors will punch through.
Planning further out: the next peak lands Aug 11, 2028, with the moon 63% lit.
✉️ Sky-event email alerts
Next up: The Geminids peak, December 13. We send one email about three days before it, with the sky forecast from up on the mountain, and the same for the handful of other showers a year worth the drive. Nothing else, and one click to stop.
What you'll actually see
Fast, bright, and generous with persistent trains: a good Perseid leaves a glowing streak that hangs for a second or two after the meteor is gone. Fireballs are more common than in any other August sky.
Debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, a 26 km nucleus on a 133-year orbit. Every August, Earth crosses the trail it has been shedding for thousands of years.
Entry speed: about 59 km/s.
When it runs
Active from mid-July to late August, with the strong nights packed into two or three around the peak.
From 19.8°N
The radiant sits far north, in Perseus, so from 19.8°N it rides lower than mainland write-ups assume and does its best work after midnight. Still the most reliable big shower of the Hawaiian summer, and on a new-moon year the warm, dry leeward coasts are about as comfortable as meteor watching gets.
Making the night work
The technique is the same for every shower: dark spot, no telescope, eyes adapted, radiant up. The rules live on the calendar page.
Tours & booking
No 4WD, or want it handled?
Summit tours from Kona, Waikoloa and Hilo bundle the 4WD, parkas, dinner and a telescope, typically $150 to $330 a person.
Tour or drive yourself? The honest comparison
Tour links are affiliate links to Viator; we may earn a commission at no cost to you.
Peak instants and radiant heights computed by this site from solar longitude with astronomy-engine; stream facts from the American Meteor Society and IMO shower notes. Independent project, affiliated with no observatory or agency.