Despite smoke, annual meteor shower expected to be spectacular as ever
NANAIMO — If you’re patient, stargazing this weekend will have an extra spark.
Greg Arkos, a professor of astronomy at VIU’s Nanaimo campus, told NanaimoNewsNOW the annual Perseid meteor shower will be especially spectacular on Saturday.
“The Earth is running into a debris field, basically junk, left behind by a comet,” he explained. The debris melted off the comet when it passed close to the Sun and now Earth’s rotation around the Sun has brought us right to the debris field.
Arkos said even though the remains of the comet are incredibly tiny, some no larger than a grain of sand, they still make for an impressive sight.