Where and how to watch the Perseids meteor shower tonight
South Wales is perhaps the best place in the UK to watch the Perseids meteor shower tonight.
Clear skies are expected across southern and eastern parts overnight, and the Brecon Beacons is one of just five places around the world recognised as an International Dark Sky Reserve, because of minimal light pollution.
Read more: The best places in the rest of the UK to see the meteor shower
Watch: Brecon Beacons recognised for starry skies
The Perseids meteor shower is an annual event, but the Royal Astronomical Society says prospects for this year's showing are "particularly good", and could mean up to 60 shooting stars per hour here tonight.
The skies are expected to shimmer with a "natural firework display" as the meteor shower crosses into the earth's atmosphere. It is a result of material falling from the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which last passed near the earth in 1992.
The display will last from late this evening, through to early tomorrow morning. Around midnight is likely to be the best time to watch.
Meteors - popularly known as shooting stars - are the result of small particles entering the earth's atmosphere at high speed. They heat the air around them, causing a streak of light seen from the ground.
They mostly appear as fleeting streaks of light, lasting less than a second, but the brightest ones leaves behind trials of vaporised gases and glowing air molecules that may take a few seconds to fade.
The shower is active from around 17 July to 24 August each year, although for most of that time only a few meteors per hour will be visible.Tonight, many more may be seen.
The number of visible meteors is hard to predict, but you can expect to see one at least every few minutes.
The Royal Astronomical Society says the best equipment is simply your own eyes - unlike many other stargazing events.
It advises you to wrap up well, and set up a reclining chair to allow you to look up at the sky in comfort. It also helps to be in a dark site away from artificial light, and have an unobstructed view of the sky.
Read More: Royal Astronomical Society information on tonight's display
There may also be a glimpse of larger 'fireballs', according to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. The earth will pass through the comet's trail like a snowplough, with material of different sizes being trapped by the planet's gravity. The larger material may fall to earth as meteorites.
NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office explains why the Perseids have been identified as the 'fireball champion' of annual meteor showers.