Yearly Perseid meteor shower to hit peak tonight, says Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines - The annual Perseid meteor shower will hit its peak tonight and will be observed throughout the country if skies are clear, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).

“The famous meteor shower will be observed with its peak in the early morning hours of Aug. 13, just one day after the full moon,” the weather bureau said.

Skygazers could expect around 15 “bright and swift-moving meteors” per hour, PAGASA supervising undersecretary Graciano Yumul said.

 Nathaniel Servando, PAGASA acting administrator, said the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rains and thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening.

“There is a better chance to see the Perseid meteor showers,” he said.

 The Perseids meteor shower radiates from the constellation Perseus, which is located in the eastern horizon during August.

 According to the weather bureau, August is one of the most popular times of the year to observe meteor showers.

It said meteors are easiest to see if there is no moonlight and pollution is light.

Meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering the earth’s atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories.

 Most meteors are smaller than a grain of sand and almost all of them disintegrate and never hit the earth’s surface.