The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight in the United States. As I'm sitting in the middle of New York City, I'm pretty sure I'll be missing it. But if you've got better access to areas of the country without quite as much light pollution, you should take advantage of this opportunity, like woah.
Reader hubs, via Submitterator, offers a few handy tips for first-timers.
Clear Sky Charts are a good way to determine how dark and cloudy your night sky will be.
Use this website to help you determine the peak time for viewing in your timezone. The best Perseid activity, no matter the date or location, is usually seen during the last hour before the start of morning twilight, when Perseus lies highest above the horizon in a dark sky. This is usually between the hours of 4:00 AM and 5:00 AM for most of us. If you can't time it exactly don't worry, anytime after midnight you should see a healthy number of "shooting stars" throughout the night.
Try to get out of the city. Your viewing experience is greatly diminished by light pollution: the leftover glow leaked from densely populated cities' artificial light. Use this website to help you determine the darkest place for viewing in your area.
More tips here.
