Perseid meteor shower 2013: How to watch the ‘spectacular’ annual light show

National Post Staff | 13/08/11 | Last Updated: 13/08/11 11:12 PM ET

A multiple exposure picture taken in the early hours of August 11, 2013 shows the Perseid meteor shower in the sky, near the municipality of La Hiruela, on the mountains of the Sierra Norte de Madrid.

DANI POZO/AFP/Getty ImagesA multiple exposure picture taken in the early hours of August 11, 2013 shows the Perseid meteor shower in the sky, near the municipality of La Hiruela, on the mountains of the Sierra Norte de Madrid.

Sky gazers are in for a treat as the Perseid meteor shower makes its annual appearance.
Every year in early August, Earth passes through the comet Swift-Tuttle’s orbit and sweeps up some of this debris. As the tiny rocks encounter the thin upper atmosphere of the Earth, the air is heated to incandescence and we see a rapid streak of light.

This year, the Earth is expected to encounter the “core” of the Perseid swarm on Aug. 12, and the best chance to view the meteors will be Sunday and Monday night. Viewers may see as many as 60 to 100 “shooting stars” per hour.

They’re not stars, of course, or planets, or anything as majestic even as a cosmic pebble from the beach of time. According to Gary Boyle, president of the Ottawa chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, each glorious streak of light is caused by a piece of dust half the size of a grain or sand or smaller, burning up as it careens into Earth’s atmosphere at almost 60 kilometres per second.

“It’s like skipping a rock off a wall, where you get a spark,” he says. “Well, here you get a bigger spark.”

The meteor shower can only be viewed from the northern hemisphere, according to the International Meteor Organization, and can be viewed after 10 or 11 p.m. The best visibility, however, comes in the hours just before dawn.

It’s easiest to see meteor showers when away from lights caused by major cities and it can take up to an hour for the eye to adjust to darkness and see the full effect of the shower.

There are larger detonations, too, called fireballs, where massive particles the size of half a grain of rice are ignited, so bright that if you happen to be looking down at the ground when they explode 100 kilometres overhead, you’ll see your shadow.

“It’s quite spectacular,” says Boyle, “and a nice summertime shower.”