Supermoon & Perseids Meteor Shower
A ‘supermoon’ is to light up the night sky alongside this year’s Perseid meteor shower. The event will coincide with a period during the second week in August when it is common to see more than 100 meteors an hour.
The moon will be at its biggest and brightest for 20 years as it reaches the point in its orbit closest to Earth – known as perigee – at the same time as it becomes full. The Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak – producing "fireballs as bright as Jupiter or Venus".
The debris stream left by comet Swift-Tuttle, which produces the Perseids, is wide so the shooting stars could make an appearance well before the moon becomes full.
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