One of the year’s most enjoyable celestial wonders was on full display Thursday evening, until the early hours on Friday morning.
Montrealers got the opportunity to enjoy a dazzling display as hundreds of meteors are expected to shoot across the sky in the annual Perseid meteor shower.
What is a Perseid meteor shower?
Montreal Planetarium astronomer, Marc Jobin, explained that meteors, better known as shooting stars, are tiny specks of dust or grains of sand that come off of comets.
When they encounter the atmosphere of the earth at very high speeds, the heat of that friction with the air causes particles to burn up very quickly and gives it a flash of light as they burn through the atmosphere.
During the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower, people can see dozens of meteors per hour.
What’s so special about it?
Lots of things.
For one, it’s one of the few meteor showers that occur each year and it’s one of the strongest.
It also happens in the summer, making it easier for people to watch and enjoy in the warm weather.
Finally, experts say this year will be better than others because, as Jobin explained, the Earth will be encountering one of the meteor streams almost dead center, so the number of meteors hitting the atmosphere of the Earth will be almost double what’s usually seen.
How can you watch?
Simply lay onto the ground outside or even on a reclining lawn chair.
Jobin recommends staying away from bright city lights or trying to find the darkest space that you can to really get the full effect of the shower.
What’s the best time to catch the Perseid?
The meteor shower will be visible beginning in the early evening until dawn.
However, the Perseids will be most visible during the second half of the night, around midnight, until dawn.