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Weather: Sunny Skies And Two Celestial Events

By Steven Strouss

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Sunshine lovers and stargazers are going to enjoy the next several days and nights. High pressure is settling into the Delaware Valley clearing out the clouds and bringing lower humidity to the region. Temperatures tomorrow and Friday will remain in the low 80s and it will feel very comfortable with lots of sunshine. The nice weather continues into the weekend and Saturday will be mostly sunny as a disturbance passes by to our south.

Meanwhile, sky watchers will be treated with a rare show this weekend as two cool celestial events take place. Every year from July 17th to August 24th, the Earth crosses through 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. This weekend, the Perseid Meteor shower will be in full force and you could look with the naked eye toward the northeast direction.  This event is typically easy to view because it produces 40-50 of meteors each hour but this time it will be limited by another amazing astronomical event. The second and largest of three supermoons, this summer, will be visible on Sunday. It is called a supermoon because it will be full at perigee, or the point when the Moon is closest to the Earth in it's monthly orbit. This occurs at 1:44PM on Sunday, August 10th. At its closest point the Moon will be fewer than 222,000 miles away and appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter. It will be full at 2:09 p.m. on Sunday.

Steven

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