How to see the year's best meteor shower this weekend, with fireballs, colorful trails, and a Jupiter-Mars conjunction

• The Perseids meteor shower is often the best of the year, with bright fireballs and colorful tails.
• A planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Mars will also be visible to the naked eye this weekend.
• The northern lights may also make an appearance from New York to Idaho. Here's how to see it all.

The Perseids meteor shower — the summer's biggest celestial event — is finally here, and it's bringing some friends.