TORONTO – Next week, be prepared to grab a lawn chair or a warm blanket, and look up: it’s time for the best meteor shower of the year.
The Perseids are the year’s most popular and anticipated shower in Canada due to two factors: the warm weather and an abundance of meteors that streak across the sky.
Meteor showers occur as Earth passes through the dust left over from a passing comet. In this case, Earth is passing through particles left over from Comet Swift-Tuttle. The small particles that enter Earth’s atmosphere come in around 59 km/s quickly burning up in our atmosphere, creating a “shooting star.”
The best part this year is that it’s almost a new moon, so even faint meteors will be visible.
The Perseids are active from July 13 to Aug. 26, however, they peak on the night of Aug. 12-13, with as many as 100 meteors an hour being visible from dark locations.
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