An artist's depiction of a shooting star. Look out for meteors of all sizes during the shower this month!
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of Corel Photography
Make a wish on a shooting star! It's time for the Perseid meteor shower!
News story originally written on August 12, 2003
Look out for the Perseid meteor shower! People in the Northern Hemisphere
will be able to see the largest number of meteors from the shower on Tuesday
August 12th and Wednesday August 13th, 2003. Bright light from the nearly-full
moon will make it difficult to see the meteors as they zoom across the
sky. So, make sure you take a look when the moon is low in the sky just
after sunset or just before dawn!
Perseid meteoroids are little pieces of the comet Swift-Tuttle. This comet has a lot of dusty debris that travels along with it. The dust forms a cloud that the Earth speeds through every year at about this time. They may be tiny, but these dust particles can make some very bright streaks of colorful light through the night sky!
Last modified August 12, 2003 by Lisa Gardiner.
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