Perseid Meteor Shower 2012: Upto '100 Meteors Per Hour' To Fill Pre-Dawn Skies

Perseid Meteor Shower 2012

The Perseid meteor shower, said to be the largest meteor display of the year, will fill pre-dawn skies with hundreds of shooting stars from August 11-13, 2012, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.

"We expect to see meteor rates as high as a hundred per hour," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.  "The Perseids always put on a good show."

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), the famous meteor shower will be observed with its peak in the late evening and early morning hours on August 12-13, 2012 in the Philippines.

PAGASA added that the meteors are easiest to see if there is no moonlight, light pollution at all and if the weather permits.

NASA said that the Peseid meteor shower can be seen any time after 11 p.m. but the best time to look is during the dark hours immediately before dawn. It further said that the brightest planets in the solar system are also lining up right in the middle of the display.

"Jupiter, Venus, and the crescent Moon are gathering together just as the Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak." NASA wrote. "The alignment occurs in the eastern sky before sunrise on the three mornings of highest meteor activity."