Our Earth is currently passing through the orbit of comet Swift-Tuttle, as is its annual practice. That comet leaves behind a cloud of dust particles: a meteor shower known as the Perseids.
In this way, the pieces of grit, often no bigger than a grain of sand, end up in our atmosphere, where they burn up due to friction and cause light trails in the sky. We call this phenomenon ‘shooting stars’.
There are other meteor showers throughout the year, but the Perseids are known to provide the most spectacular sight. The meteor shower is named after the constellation Perseus, because that’s where the shooting stars come from. The meteor shower usually reaches its peak during this time.
“We expect you will see the largest number of meteors tonight,” said Philippe Mollet of the Mira public observatory. “Although that is of course a prediction. We have already seen in the last few weeks how activity has risen little by little. We know from experience: once the peak is over, the numbers drop very quickly.”
2024-08-11 14:23:42
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