Peak Of Perseid Meteor Shower Expected Monday Night
By Justin Drabick
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – An incredible show is taking place way up in space, and Monday night is the peak.
It’s the Perseid meteor shower.
About every 45 seconds, you’ll see bright streaks of light zipping across the sky.
The meteor shower happens when Earth passes through the orbit of the Swift-Tuttle comet. The streaks of light are dust particles burning when they collide with the atmosphere at 133,000 miles per hour.
The best time to see the shower is between midnight and sunrise, but any time after sunset you should be able to get a glimpse.
The meteors are about 40-60 miles away from Earth, and most of them are tiny, about the size of a grain of sand, but they can be as big as a golf ball.
Clouds are in the forecast, so if it’s too cloudy where you are, head to CBSPhilly.com to catch a live feed of the stellar show from NASA.