One of the brightest and most visible meteor showers of the year will peak from Monday to Wednesday night.
The Slooh Community Telescope will broadcast a live stream of the Perseids for those living in brighter areas where the meteors may be less visible. You can watch it here and it will also be carried live by Space.com courtesy of Slooh.
What are the Perseids?
The Perseids are visible when the Earth passes through debris left behind by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, called the Perseid cloud. The dust particles are ejected as the Halley-type comet – which have orbital periods of between 20 and 200 years – travels its orbit over 133 years, although most of the particles have been part of the cloud for an estimated 1,000 years.
When our planet’s upper atmosphere comes into contact with the fast-moving debris, travelling at around 130,000 mph, they burn up and create spectacular streaks of light.
The shower occurs annually and is named after the point at which it is seen to originate, the constellation Perseus.
Nasa’s Bill Cooke, of the US space agency’s Meteoroid Environment Office, told Nasa Space News: “The Perseids are rich in fireballs as bright as Jupiter or Venus.”
“We see more fireballs from Swift-Tuttle than any other parent comet,” he added.
Agencies/Canadajournal
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