PERSEID METEOR SHOWERS WILL FLY ACROSS NIGHT SKY THIS WEEK

(08/11/2015)

Quite possibly the best meteor shower of the year — the Perseids — will be coming to the Calhoun sky this week.

The Perseids feature fast and bright meteors that frequently leave trains, and in 2015 there will be no moonlight to upstage the shower.

There could be as many as 80 meteors per hour at the peak of the shower, according to NASA, noting it's among the brightest of all such meteor events.

The Perseids can be best seen during the pre-dawn hours from Tuesday through Aug. 14, according to Earthsky.org with the best show on Aug. 13.

No special equipment is needed to enjoy this nighttime spectacle.

The meteors are actually tiny dust and particles from the tail of the comet Swift-Tuttle as it orbits around the sun.

The particles, many no bigger than a grain of sand or a pea, disintegrate high up in our atmosphere after making a brilliant flash of light, the American Meteor Society said.