The 2026 Perseid meteor shower is forecast to end on August 24.
The Perseids are an annual meteor shower produced when Earth passes through dust and small rocky particles spread along the orbit of Comet Swift–Tuttle. The shower begins in July, reaches its strongest activity around August 12, and gradually fades afterward. In calendar tables, August 24 is listed as the Perseids’ final active date for the 2026 season.
The end date does not mean that every meteor disappears suddenly. Individual Perseid meteors can still be seen after the listed endpoint, but the shower’s predictable activity has declined substantially. Calendar dates describe the period when the stream is sufficiently active to be classified as a recognizable annual shower.
The Perseids are often confused with random meteors, which appear on every clear night. A meteor seen after August 24 could be a sporadic meteor rather than a Perseid, unless its apparent path traces back toward the Perseid radiant.