the wee hours tomorrow, be sure to note the picturesque pairing of the waning crescent moon with the dazzling planet Venus in the eastern predawn (and dawn) sky.
• Looking east, before dawn, on Monday, August 13
• At their peak, the Perseids commonly produce 50 or more meteors per hour at mid-northern latitudes. The Perseids are also visible from the tropics and the subtropical regions of the Southern Hemisphere, but appreciably south of the equator, the number of Perseid meteors are fewer and farther between. That's because the constellation Perseus - the radiant of the Perseid shower - climbs higher in the Northern Hemisphere sky. For everyone worldwide, the radiant is highest in the sky at or near dawn. That's why the dark hours just before dawn usually produce the greatest number of Perseid meteors.
• You don't have to find the constellation Perseus - or radiant point for the shower - to watch the Perseids. Simply find a dark, open sky away from the glare of

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