The jaw-dropping, eye-opening peak to the Perseid Meteor Shower is only two nights away, on August 12th. But experts say you should be out catching the first of those passing celestial bodies, right now — you just need to be somewhere with no fog, cloud cover, or light pollution to see it best.

The much-anticipated meteor shower will, again, come to a climax Monday night, leading into the wee hours of Tuesday, August 13th. The science behind this phenomena? Our planet swings through the debris of the comet Swift-Tuttle each year, from mid-July to late-August, with the most eye-catching episodes happening early-August.

Better yet, the Bay Area is filled with area’s that boost low light pollution and elevated vantage points to watch (and Instagram) the shower.

Here are a dozen of our recommended vantage points to watch this year's Perseid meteor shower from:

Before heading out to any of these places, check the latest forecast of the counties for each destination. If patchy clouds are expected,  be patient; wait for breaks in the cloud coverage. And, if for some reason you miss this shower, don’t fret: the Geminid meteor shower, in December, also serves cosmic gymnastics that move at lightening speeds through the sky.

Photo: Courtesy of Austin Human, via Unsplash