By Ocean Francoeur
Special to The Record
It’s that magical time of year again: the Perseid meteor shower is already underway. Though the peak of the celestial show will likely occur around the 10 to 14 of July, stargazers young and old will be able to feast their eyes on silver showers of stars at any time until the end of August- and maybe even make a few wishes.
This is the busiest time of year for those working over at the Mont-Mégantic AstroLab, though Sébastien Giguère, the scientific coordinator and educator at the lab, says that shooting stars are visible year-round. “All year you can see shooting stars at night at a rate of around three to five stars per hour. From the end of July throughout August though, the rate goes up exponentially,” he said. “On the night of the ‘maximum’, as well call it, the rate goes up to 100 stars an hour or more. The peak tends to occur around August 12, depending on the year.” See full story in the Thursday, August 2 edition of The Record