Northern BC is in for a trio of shows in the night sky.
Tonight (Monday) the Perseid Meteor Shower will light up the night sky in all directions.
“What the Perseid Meteor Shower is, it’s basically a meteor shower, meaning the dust and debris left behind by Comet 109P, or Comet Swift-Tuttle, it was discovered by Swift and Tuttle, independently on July 16th and July 19th 1862,” said Prince George Observatory President Malhar Kendurkar.
“The comet orbits the sun every 133 years, and it leaves the dust and debris behind, so right now, the Earth is actually passing through the cloud of dust and debris, and that’s when we see Perseid’s meteor shower.”
Kendurkar said the peak of the meteor shower will most likely start after 11:00 pm, and last until around 3:00 am.
“For a meteor shower, you have to be in a dark location,” he added.
“You will actually see the Perseid Meteor Shower all over the sky, so the radiant point I know of the meteor shower is the Perseus constellation, because that’s where they will mostly appear from, but this is the kind of meteor shower that will be visible in every single direction in the sky, and they will be very bright meteors.”
Kendurkar said the Northern Lights will be on full display tonight as well.
“From the city, a lot of times it is difficult to see the Northern Lights,” explained.
“But if you could go drive 15-20 minutes out of the City, you will be able to see the Northern Lights easily in the Northern Sky.”
In addition, Mars and Jupiter will appear close together.
“It’s one of the closest conjunctions we’re getting in a long time,” Kendurkar explained.
“From an observer’s point of view, they’ll look very close, that’s why it’s called conjunction.”
He added the best time to see the conjunction will be Wednesday night in the southeast.
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