Watch out for Perseids meteor showers Sunday

New Delhi, Aug 10 (IANS) Sky gazers can look forward to an exhibition of celestial fireworks as the night sky will be lit up by Perseids meteor showers that are expected to peak Sunday.

At its peak, one can see as many as 60 meteors streak across the skies in an hour. An outstanding view of Perseids meteor shower is on the cards this weekend on the nights from Aug 12-14.

The Perseids are the most famous of all meteor showers and never fail to provide an impressive display. The 2012 Perseids meteor shower will be excellently seen from the entire northern hemisphere.

"Sky gazers will be able to see the fire from the skies. One can see trails of shooting stars coming from a particular area in the sky at an astonishing rate," said Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) director C.B. Devgun.

SPACE is a private organisation working for popularising science among people.

"Light pollution can hamper the observations and maybe the city can't witness too many meteors because of too much of light pollution around. Also, the rains and cloudy skies are expected to rob the charm of this celestial show," Devgun said.

As comets move about their orbits, they leave a trail of dusty and rocky debris, which gets attracted when the earth crosses their orbits. The showers are seen as the debris light up on entry into the earth's atmosphere.

Records of Perseids activity date back to 36 AD. In 1839, German astronomer Eduard Heis was the first to take a meteor count and discovered that Perseids had a maximum rate of around 60 meteors per hour.