New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- The Perseid meteor shower is famous for its bright meteors that often leave long, glowing trails.

While in past years the shower has delivered around 40 to 50 visible meteors per hour, this year's display is expected to be less impressive, according to Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office. The reduced visibility is due to the timing of the shower, which comes just after August's full moon, its brightness likely obscuring many of the meteors from view.

"The average person under dark skies could see somewhere between 40 and 50 Perseids per hour. Instead, you're probably going to see 10 to 20 per hour or fewer, and that's because we have a bright Moon in the sky washing out the fainter meteors," Co...