Perseid meteor shower set to light up Canadian skies in August
The Perseids are one of the brightest cosmic events observable in the night sky. The orbit of the meteor shower associated with comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle regularly intersects Earth's orbit, resulting in "shooting stars" appearing above us from July 17 to August 24. It's worth watching for them now and remembering that the true cosmic spectacle is yet to come. The peak of this shower occurs on August 12 and 13.
NASA notes that the Perseids are the best meteor shower of the year. The meteors forming the shower quickly and spectacularly cut through Earth's atmosphere, often leaving long light trails behind them. The Perseids can travel at speeds of up to 60 kilometres per second, and during the peak moment of the shower, up to 100 meteors can appear in an hour.
Perseids 2024 - when and where to watch?
The Perseids appear in the skies above us from July 17 to August 24. However, their peak occurs during the night of August 12 to August 13. We can expect the most spectacular displays of "shooting stars" during these nights, although this depends on weather conditions. Meteor showers, like other cosmic events, are best observed with a clear sky and away from light pollution.
No special equipment is needed to observe the Perseids. They are bright and move quickly, so we should not have trouble locating them in the sky. The Perseids are best viewed late at night or early in the morning. Meteors from this shower come from the vicinity of the Perseus constellation. In practice, this means that observers in Canada should look towards the northeast to spot the Perseids.
The presence of the Perseids is related to the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle. It has a width of 26 kilometres and takes 133 years to orbit the Sun fully. NASA points out that 109P/Swift-Tuttle is almost twice the size of the object that is hypothetically believed to have led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. The Perseids are remnants of this comet, which burn up spectacularly in the atmosphere.
