| Anyone see shooting stars? Meteor shower
Just looked into the sky and saw a shooting star...it's like a meteor shower. Quote:
Those looking skywards this week could be in for a "spectacular" light show.
The Perseid meteor shower, an annual shower which takes place each August, is set to light up the skies late Wednesday night and pre-dawn Thursday as well as late Thursday night into pre-dawn Friday.
"This is one of the best meteor showers of the year," said Sherrilyn Jahrig, observatory attendant with the Telus World of Science.
"It's going to be spectacular."
At its peak, sky gazers could see a meteor a minute or up to 100 meteors each hour - weather permitting.
"It's a big one," added Deborah Thompson with the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
Thompson says those watching this year's Perseids shower should get a better show than in past years.
"Last year the moon was bright and it made it difficult to see the shower but it should have zero impact this year."
Jahrig suggests those wanting the best view of the shower get far away from "light pollution" created by buildings and streetlights in the city.
She adds that if someone could choose any meteor shower to view throughout the year, this would be it.
"Some years are better than others (but) take your chances because it's not often we don't have a moon out during this shower," she said.
The summer weather is also a plus.
The Perseids meteor shower occurs when the Earth cuts through debris streams left from a a comet called Swift-Tuttle.
Meteorites become more prominent closer to midnight but the greatest number fill the sky hours just before dawn.
If hopeful sky gazers aren't able to get out into the country to watch the shooting stars, Jahrig says school fields would be the next best location.
The peak of the Perseids meteor shower comes just a week after a "solar tsunami" - an eruption on the surface of the sun - allowed for the northern lights to be seen across Canada.
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