00:00Well, the annual Perseid meteor shower is about to ramp up next week, and you're not
00:07going to want to miss it.
00:09The showers are the result of Earth passing through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet,
00:13which we do every year.
00:14This year the cosmic light show will last from July 14th to September 1st, however they
00:18are expected to peak on August 12th.
00:21Experts say that near the apex of the shower, you can likely see upwards of 100 meteors
00:26every hour.
00:27The Internet reports that in 2016 the peak saw some 200 meteors an hour.
00:31It's called the Perseid meteor shower because all of the meteors tend to originate from
00:35the direction of the Perseus constellation.
00:37Unfortunately, this year the shower also peaks when the moon is still quite bright, at around
00:4244% illumination.
00:43So when's best to see it?
00:44Well, for North American skygazers, that would be shortly after 3am, universal time.
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