Top tips for watching the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks Aug. 11 and 12 - StCatharinesStandard.ca

This year’s Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak overnight on Tuesday into Wednesday morning with streaks of shooting stars running across the night sky.

The Canadian Space Agency says that “during the peak, typically in the darkest hours after midnight, up to 50 to 80 meteors per hour can streak across the sky.”

To get an even better view, the agency says to “look up at the sky between moonset and dawn to see the most meteors of the night.”

The Perseids peak every August as the Earth passes through the debris trail of the Comet Swift-Tuttle.

Perseid is the champion of meteors, with more fireballs than those of any other comet, NASA’s research has revealed.

The CSA says that the Perseids take their name from the constellation Perseus because “they appear to fall right from it.

“Right before dawn, when we see the most meteors, Perseus is at its highest point in the sky. The constellation was catalogued by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy and named after the Greek mythological hero Perseus.”

In 2016, Leslieville resident and Etobicoke native Adam Evans offered these tips to skywatchers who want to take in the Perseid meteor shower:

1. Get out whenever you can.

“If you’re not keen to get up at 5 a.m., you might see a few things in the night sky.”

2. Suppress the instinct to go out and buy a telescope.

“You can take photos of space with a decent SLR camera. Try using a long lens on a tripod.”

3. Before you buy a camera, buy a good pair of binoculars.

“Binoculars are cheap, portable and as good as a small telescope.”

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4. Astronomy is for everyone.

“There’s always something to see ... It’s a buffet ... I’m taking high-resolution photographs. But astronomy is pretty accessible to people with binoculars or just the naked eye. Right now, Saturn and Mars are visible at sunrise.”

With files from Ted Fraser

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2020-08-12 02:30:59Z
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