Celestial show expected overnight in Perseid meteor shower
Posted August 11, 2012 9:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Weather permitting, Canadians are in for a celestial treat this weekend as the Perseid meteor shower – consider the best meteor shower of the year – reaches its peak.
Hundreds of shooting stars are expected to blaze across the skies starting Saturday night, and running into the pre-dawn hours Sunday morning.
The Perseids can be seen any time after 10 p.m. Saturday night. The prolific meteor shower generally begins in late July and is most visible between August 9-14 each year.
Eric Briggs of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada says it will become even busier as the night progresses.
“The best time to observe the Perseids meteor shower will be on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, especially after midnight and before dawn on the twelfth of August,” Briggs said.
An extra treat is also in store for skygazers with the brightest planets in the solar system – Venus and Jupiter – also lining up with the moon in the eastern sky.
