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.
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