If you are a fan of astronomy, you may want to consider sacrificing some sleep and staying up late on Thursday night.
The Perseids began on July 14 and will continue to Sept. 1, but the meteor shower reaches its peak on Aug. 11, leading into the morning of Aug. 12.
The shower takes place when Earth moves through the thickest part of debris left over from the Swift-Tuttle comet.
Gary Boyle, also known as the Backyard Astronomer based in Ottawa, Ont., said Monday that a full Sturgeon Moon is going to cast a major glow in the sky, which might reduce the visibility of smaller meteors.
Still, he said conditions remain favourable to host a backyard star party.
“If you can get away from city lights to get a beautiful horizon in the north, south, east and west, these can be very spectacular – in all four directions,” said Boyle in a phone interview. “People will see definitely something that night and some images are just memorable. You’ll never ever forget.”
Boyle said that throughout the night, people could also catch a glimpse of a couple of planets from within Earth’s solar system.
“The planet Saturn, a brilliant object in the southeastern sky, rises just around sunset,” he said.
“Two hours later, we will see the even brighter Jupiter and two hours from that, an even brighter Mars, which are all lined up in a beautiful row across the sky, so you’re seeing three beautiful planets of our own solar system.”
The meteor shower will be visible in skies across Canada.
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