Perseid Meteor Shower Underway, Peaks Saturday
MIAMI (CBSMiami) — The annual Perseid meteor shower is underway this week. The sky show peaks on Saturday night into Sunday morning.
In its orbit around the sun, the Earth is cutting into a trail of debris left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Most of this debris is no larger than pebbles, and it enters Earth's atmosphere at speeds of up to 44 miles per second.
The meteor showers are best seen in dark skies in the countryside, from a shortly after midnight through morning twilight. During the pre-dawn peak on Sunday morning, you may see over 50 meteors or "shooting stars" an hour.
