Meteor showers to light up P.E.I. sky

Astronomers are predicting the Perseid meteor shower will be extra spectacular this year.

And for Islanders who want to take full advantage of the spectacle, Glen Roberts of the Charlottetown Astronomy Club suggests watching from somewhere away from the city lights, such as the North Shore.

• Perseid meteor shower set to be extra-spectacular this year

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"The darker the site you're under the more that you're going to see," he said.

The Perseids happen each August as Earth passes through the stream of dust and debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle. They create bright streaks as they crash into Earth's atmosphere at about 214,000 km/h.

At their peak at 3 a.m.

This year, the Perseids will be in the sky on Aug. 11 at about 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. the next morning, Roberts said, but they'll be at their peak at about 3 a.m.

"Usually we see about 50 to 100 per hour, but this year they're predicting we could see twice that number or possibly even more," Roberts said.

He said that's because the debris trail got nudged a little closer to Earth's orbit by Jupiter this year.

'Fairly reliable'

"Meteor showers are notoriously fickle so you can never predict for sure the number you are going to see or how intense it will be, but the Perseids are usually fairly reliable," he said.

"At times they can be quite spectacular. You may go a period of time when you only see one or two and then all of a sudden you may see a handful come."

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