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Post by Bill on Aug 12, 2006 12:33:34 GMT -5
Meteor shower peaks this weekend Last Updated Fri, 11 Aug 2006 13:52:10 EDT CBC News
Stargazers should prepare to be dazzled this weekend by dozens of shooting stars as the Perseid meteor shower peaks — although the nearly full moon could take some of the shine off the show.
NASA recommends heading out between 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. local time, before the moon rises to avoid the glare that will wash out many of the shooting stars.
The Perseid shower is expected to peak on Saturday, but since the peak is broad, Friday night may be good or better than Saturday, the space agency said.
Canadian viewers should find a dark spot and look toward the northeast. The meteors can be seen anywhere in the sky.
The celestial fireworks occur when gravel-sized debris from comet Swift-Tuttle pass through Earth's atmosphere at more than 200,000 kilometres an hour and then burn up.
The heated dust and debris lights up a long, bright trail — the "shooting star."
Rarer, slower Earthgrazers — meteors that skim the top of the atmosphere like a stone skipping on a pond — are another potential part of the show.
Earthgrazers streak horizontally overhead, generally from north to south.
The Perseids last until about Aug. 24
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Post by hilarious on Aug 12, 2006 14:50:45 GMT -5
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