By Bob Ede

If ever a person needed an excuse to stay up all night during summer! The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the night of August 12 and the early morning hours of the 13th.

The Perseids is a favourite shower for stargazers. It can produce up to a hundred meteors an hour, and the summer night is a pleasant temperature compared to other annual showers.

Fortunately, this year promises dark skies as a waning crescent moon comes up just before sunrise. Dark skies guarantee the ‘falling stars’ will be brilliant among the stars of our Milky Way galaxy.

The radiant for the shower is the constellation Perseus; however, you don’t have to know the constellations, as the meteors can be seen over the entire sky. But you increase your chances if you seek out a place with dark open skies, away from the light of town.

Each year I take the Perseids as an opportunity to spend a few nights in the mountains. The nights can be magical watching thousands of stars while colourful meteors streak through the sky.

If you can’t get out for the peak of the shower the nights leading up will also be good viewing. If you haven’t seen a meteor shower or you are a seasoned stargazer this can be a wonderful night and well worth staying up for.

– Bob Ede can be found driving the back roads with a young wire-haired Dachshund, both in search of galaxies far, far away. He can be reached at [email protected].

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