Swift-Tuttle comet to cause Perseid meteor shower

KATHMANDU: The Perseid meteor shower will occur on Thursday night and pre-dawn hours on Friday and reach at its peak due to Comet Swift-Tuttle.

According to the Nepal Astronomical Society, the Perseid meteor shower which is rich in bright meteors and fireballs is likely to peak on Thursday night and wee hours on Friday.

Society’s Chair Suresh Bhattarai told RSS that the Perseid meteor shower will be visible in clear skies in north-east from 10:30 pm tonight to till 5 am local time on Friday.

The shower will peak from 3 to 4 am Friday during which the meteor will travel at the speed 60 kilo meters per second.

The Perseid are one of the most plentiful showers during which 50 to 100 meteors are seen per hour, according to the NASA.

The Perseid meteor shower is an annual event that comes from streams of debris left behind by comments and peak during mid-August. It is dubbed as the best meteor shower of the year by the NASA.

This year Earth will pass through the path of Swift-Tuttle from July 17 to August 26 causing frequent meteor showers during this period with Perseid meteor shower becoming the brightest one of all. RSS