Perseid Meteor Shower to Peak Friday Night, Says KASI

The Perseid Meteor Shower, a prominent and breathtaking natural phenomenon, is expected to peak this week.

According to the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), the peak of the meteor shower can be observed in South Korea between 10 p.m. Friday, August 12, until 12:30 a.m. Saturday, August 13.

World KBS Radio reported that the International Meteor Organization (IMO) anticipated that under excellent conditions, the rate of meteors will amount to 150 meteors in an hour, having an average speed of approximately 59 kilometers per second.

Bill Cooke, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) meteor expert, said that the Perseid Meteor Shower this year will boast of an "outburst" that could reach as high as 200 meteors in an hour. During usual meteor showers, the count goes from 60 to 100 meteors per hour.

Cooke told Space.com, "This year, the August Perseids will be in what we call 'outburst' - their rates will double because we are running into more material left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle. Meteor shower observing requires nothing but your eyes - you want to take in as much sky as possible. Go outside in a nice, dark sky, away from the city lights, lie flat on your back and look up straight.Take your choice of beverage and snacks and things like that. You cannot observe a meteor shower by sticking your head out the door and looking for five minutes."

The Perseid meteors are associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle that has an orbital period of 133 years. The meteors also come from Perseus, a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere. Perseus is one of the 48 constellations listed by the astronomer Ptolemy and also included in the 88 modern constellations of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The word Perseids may also be attributed to the term "Perseides," which refers to the sons of Perseus.