Make A Wish!

Make a Wish! The Perseids Are Back!

Montreal, August 9, 2005

Regular as clockwork and as lovely as ever, the Perseid shooting stars are back again - and this year's stargazing conditions are promising. Their period of maximum activity this year will be in the middle of the day, around 1 p.m. EST on August 12. So the two best nights for observing this delightful phenomenon will be August 11-12 and 12-13.

Observation conditions will be best after the Moon goes down at about 10:40 p.m. on August 11 and 11 p.m. on August 12, as the bright crescent Moon will make the shooting stars harder to see early in the evening. Later in the night, the sky will be perfectly dark and observation conditions will improve steadily until dawn, around 4 a.m.

You will also be able to see some Perseids, although not as many, during the few nights leading up to and following the peak period from August 11 to 13. In theory, they are active from late July to the third week of August.

What is a shooting star?
Observation tips

Happy stargazing!

Source : Montreal Planetarium

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