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Perseid Meteor Shower To Peak This Weekend

By Steve Strouss

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -  Star-gazers and sky watchers will be treated with a rare show this weekend as weather conditions are ideally setting up for viewing of the Perseid Meteor Shower.

This event is typically easy to view because it produces a large amount of meteors each hour. The annual summertime meteor show goes all weekend but will peak Sunday after dusk and continue though early Monday morning. Viewers could see as many as 70 meteors per hour. Conditions are good all across the northeast with most of the cloud cover moving off the coast during the early parts of Saturday.

Every year from July 17th to August 24th, the Earth crosses the orbital path of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Debris pieces from the comet's rubble enter the earth's atmosphere and burn up at speeds near 134,000 mph.

The meteors can be seen with the naked eye, but viewers should give their eyes several minutes to adjust to the darkness outdoors.  Viewers should look toward the northeast direction near the constellation Perseus.  No telescope is needed, but if you are in an area with strong light you may want to move to more remote location.

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