Competing with the brilliant moon tonight will be the annual Perseid meteor shower.



Generally the Northern Hemisphere’s biggest meteor shower of the year, the Perseids will peak early Wednesday morning in the Bay Area. Up to 40 meteors an hour are projected by NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.



Though the name refers to the constellation Perseus, the meteors can be seen in all areas of the sky.



Moonlight will decrease the visibility of this year’s display. The moon, just past full, will rise about 9:20 p.m. in the Bay Area and won’t set until past daylight Wednesday. The night sky, however, is expected to be relatively clear of clouds.



NASA’s online events include a live video stream of the skies over Alabama’s Marshall Space Flight Center starting at 6:30 p.m. PDT and a live web chat starting at 8 p.m.