Spectacular show of shooting stars to light up the sky

A celestial firework display of shooting stars will appear in the heavens this weekend.

The Perseids are one of the most prolific and spectacular families of meteors, and renowned for springing surprises.

Good sightings should be possible from 1am onwards on Sunday, although peak activity is expected at 9.49am.

The meteors will appear to emanate from a ‘‘radiant’’ point quite high in the north-east sky in the constellation of Perseus. In good years, between 50 and 70 meteors an hour can be seen.

The Perseids are composed of debris, mostly the size of grains of dust, shed by the comet Swift-Tuttle.

As the Earth passes through the trail of particles they collide with the atmosphere at speeds of up to 130,000mph and burn up to produce shooting stars.

Robin Scagell, vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said: ‘‘If you go out at about 3am the chances are that within a few minutes you will see a fairly nice meteor.

‘‘The thing about the Perseids is that they are known for producing some quite spectacular meteors.’’

Most Perseids appear as tiny, quick streaks, but occasional brighter ones may sail across the sky for several seconds and leave brief trails of glowing smoke.

This is caused by gas in the atmosphere becoming electrically charged, or ionised, as the meteor shoots through it.

Mr Scagell said he did not think the third-quarter moon which will also be high in the north-east sky will unduly affect the display.

Although the path of meteors can be traced to a single point of origin, they can be seen in almost any part of the sky.

‘‘The best place to look is probably straight up,’’ said Mr Scagell.

The Perseids are merely a curtain-raiser for what promises to be a really spectacular meteor shower, the Leonids, in mid-November.

Astronomers are predicting a possible storm of up to 15,000 Leonid shooting stars an hour.