Shooting stars to peak on Monday night

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 12 - Italians will be gazing skywards on Monday night for the annual viewing of the 'shooting stars' Perseid meteor show, which is traditionally associated with the night of San Lorenzo as the faithful believe the darting space dust represents the tears of the Catholic martyr St Lawrence when he was burned alive on the 10th of August 258.
    However, the show this year is expected to reach its peak in Italy on Monday night, astronomers said over the weekend.
    The Perseids meteor shower is visible from mid-July each year, and normally peaks in mid-August.
    Observation conditions are favourable, according to the Union of Italian amateur astronomers, as the disturbance caused by the moonlight is expected to be nearly totally absent and peak activity is expected to reach a frequence of over 100 meteors an hour.
    The Perseid shower occurs as earth crosses the orbital path of the Swift-Tuttle comet and debris slams into the upper atmosphere, lighting up the night sky.
    The comet approaches earth about every 135 years and its last passage dates back to 1992. (ANSA).