Northern Ireland set for spectacular Perseid meteor shower display tonight
Small dust particles flare up under the pressure of the planet's atmosphere to create shooting stars, and a dazzling display which attracts both amateur astronomers and casual sky-watchers.
The meteor shower has been running for a few weeks and will continue until around August 24.
Professor Alan Fitzsimmons, an asteroid and cometary science expert at Queen's University Belfast, explained: 'The Perseid Meteor shower occurs when the Earth passes through a stream of comet dust created by Comet Swift-Tuttle.
"The small dust particles enter our atmosphere at 59 km per second, vaporising and producing the streak of light we call a meteor or shooting star.
'The comet itself, Swift–Tuttle, takes 133 years to orbit the Sun and leaves behind a dense trail of dust and small fragments.
"When our planet passes through this trail, the results are visible from the ground in the form of bright, fast-moving meteors.'
If the skies remain clear, Professor Fitzsimmons said the meteor shower's peak tonight will bring the best viewing conditions.
'It started several days ago and will continue for a few more days, but the best night is tonight (Tuesday), when the Earth will pass closest to the centre of the stream and we'll see more meteors,' said Professor Fitzsimmons.
For those who are keen to see the meteor shower, rural areas away from city or street lights are best to get the full impact of the lights.
Open countryside, and elevated locations such as the Mourne Mountains, the Sperrins, or the Causeway Coast offer the darkest skies and the clearest views.
Professor Fitzsimmons added: 'People should go away from streetlights and other light pollution.
"You are best looking out from about 10pm until 11pm when the Moon is well above the horizon, you might see a meteor every few minutes.
"After 11pm, you will still see bright meteors, but fainter ones will be drowned out by moonlight.'
No specialist equipment is required; the shooting stars are best viewed with the naked eye, as meteors can appear anywhere in the sky.
Shooting stars will be visible across the UK for the duration of the annual meteor shower.
Royal Observatory Greenwich astronomer Dr Ed Bloomer said that around 150 meteors will cross the sky per hour, but that amount will not be visible because the horizon blocks a full view of the sky.
However, an estimated 100 meteors could be seen per hour in certain locations that are particularly flat and dark.
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Dr Bloomer recommended stargazers wait half an hour to let their eyes get used to it, adding: 'Take a camping chair or something — if you had one, you would just sit down, and you would just relax, and you would just wait.
People struggling to see the meteors can turn and watch through their peripheral vision as it is 'a little bit better with low light conditions', he said.
Shooting stars generally only last a second or two and sometimes appear in flurries, the astronomer said.
Rarer meteors the size of a fist or a basketball will produce longer tails and are known as fireballs, he added.
These can last five to 10 seconds, but Dr Bloomer said he has only ever seen one.
The level up is a bolide but 'that's a sort of national emergency type thing', he added.
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