Skywatchers may be in for the viewing of a lifetime this weekend as one of the most active and impressive meteor showers will take place at a time where the moon is barely visible.

"Perseid is one of the best meteor showers that you can observe," Denis Vida, an astronomer and meteor physics researcher at the University of Western, told 麻豆影视 Channel on Friday. "However, this year鈥� it's going to be nice and dark."

WHEN TO EXPECT ACTIVITY

If you want to catch the best views, you'll have to stay up late or wake up early 鈥� the best part of the meteor shower won't be until early in the morning 鈥� possibly even as early as 4:30 a.m.

"Early in the evening and Saturday night, you should be able to see about one every two minutes," Vida told Marcia MacMillan.

But he says by Sunday those rates are going to increase "to about one every minute or even more."

WHERE TO SEE THE SHOWER

You will need to move away from Earth-based light sources, which means city dwellers will need to take a trip to somewhere with less light pollution.

But Vida advises "as long as spectators go somewhere" outside the city centre, it's likely you'll see activity, however "the darker it is, the better."

HOW TO GET THE BEST VIEW

There's also a quick preparation routine Vida recommends if you want to get the best view 鈥� spend 10 minutes in complete darkness before looking up at the sky, which will help your eyes "night vision" to activate.

"It's really easy to lose if you look at something very bright."

Watch the full interview by clicking the video at the top of this article.