Perseid meteor shower to peak with dazzling display this weekend
Posted August 9, 2023 4:06 pm.
Last Updated August 9, 2023 4:07 pm.
The annual Perseid meteor shower will peak this weekend in B.C. and much of North America during ideal viewing conditions.
The shower, which NASA says is considered the best of the year, will begin around 11:00 p.m. on Saturday and continue gaining momentum until early Sunday morning.
Stargazers in downtown Vancouver can try their luck viewing the shower at places such as David Lam Park, Jericho Beach, and the HR MacMillan Space Centre Observatory where there are uninterrupted views of the night sky.
Related Articles:
-
‘Never been so scared in my life’: B.C. woman’s home damaged by meteorite
-
Look up! Perseid meteor shower peaks Friday night
For the best chance of catching a glimpse of the streaking bits of ice and rock, meteor chasers should travel to less polluted skies, such as around Boundary Bay in Delta, Cypress Mountain in West Vancouver, or the McDonald Dark Sky Preserve in Abbotsford.
The Perseids shower features anywhere from 50 to 100 meteors per hour leaving streams of light and colour in their wake. Known for their fireballs, the Perseids fracture off of comet Swift-Tuttle as it orbits the sun and sheds dusty debris.
Earth passes through these trails of dusty debris every year, causing the bits to collide with its atmosphere and rupture to create the colourful showers observed from Earth’s surface.
According to NASA, comet Swift-Tuttle was discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle. With a nucleus of 26 kilometres, it’s nearly double the size of the object that is hypothesized to have led to the death of the dinosaurs.
