Friday, August 08, 2008

Perseid Meteor Shower, August 12 -13, 2008

The evening of the 12th August and morning of the 13th August is the annual maximum of the Perseid meteor shower. At its peak and in a clear, dark sky up to 80 ‘shooting stars’ or meteors may be visible each hour. Although the Perseids peak on the 12th August, the shower can be seen for some time either side of that date and it is worth looking out for them the night before. To see the meteor shower, look towards the north-eastern sky. It should be possible to see a meteor at least every few minutes.

The Perseid meteors come from the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which was last in Earth's vicinity in 1992. The name of the shower comes from the observation of the meteor's origins , which appear to originate from a point in the constellation of Perseus.

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