Perseid meteor showers predicted to peak at 200 meteors per hour

Stargazers who love the annual Perseid meteor showers are in for a treat this year, as astronomers predict there could be as many as 200 meteors per hour.

Though the Perseids have already started, the peak will be Thursday, according to EarthSky.org. The peak rate -- which could reach double the rate of a typical year -- will last about half a day overnight on Aug. 11-12, NASA's Bill Cooke told EarthSky.

The best time to watch on any given day is just before dawn because the constellation Perseus is exactly overhead. Perseus is the radiant point of the shower, which is made up of space debris from the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet.

See photos from last year's shower.