Every August, we see one of the best meteor showers of the year: the Perseids. This year, we will also see a partial solar eclipse on the same day.

Let's start with the Perseids.

The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best because of the many bright meteors it produces and the good weather we usually have.

The best night to see the Perseids is August 12-13, which is great because there will be no moonlight to interfere with the faint meteors. The new moon will help us see more meteors.

Peter Brown, a professor at Western University, said the Perseid grazers will be very active this year.

Perseid grazers are meteors that enter the Earth's atmosphere and then go back into space. They can be very bright and fast, making them exciting to see.

The author saw a very bright Earth-grazer on August 3 from downtown Toronto.

Peter Brown said people should go out early to see the Perseids. We can start seeing them around 10 pm. He thinks we will see many bright grazers this year.

The Perseid meteor shower will be at its best around midnight. We might see up to 120 meteors per hour, but only if the sky is very dark.

We will not see 120 meteors per hour, but we will see many more than usual.

Even if we do not see 120 meteors, the higher rate means we will see more meteors than usual.

Peter Brown said we will probably see a dozen or 20 meteors in the early evening, and many of them will be bright.

We do not have to wait until August 12-13 to see the Perseids. The shower started on July 17, and we will see more meteors each night until the peak.

If the weather forecast says it will be cloudy on August 12-13, we should try to see the meteors on the nights before.

Peter Brown said the night of August 12-13 will be the best time to see the meteors, but the night before will also be very good.

The meteors tend to be brighter the night before the peak.

To see many meteors, we need a clear sky. If it is clear, we should find a very dark place to watch.

We should not use our phones because the light will interfere with our eyes. It takes more than 30 minutes for our eyes to adjust to the dark.

The meteors seem to come from the constellation Perseus, which is low in the eastern sky after sunset.

Perseus will rise higher in the sky throughout the night, but we do not have to look at it to see the meteors.

There is more to see than just the Perseids.

Remember the star that was supposed to explode in 2024? It did not, but it could still happen soon.

There are other things that can affect our view of the night sky.

Two other big meteor showers are happening now: the southern delta Aquariids and the alpha Capricornids.

These showers produce fewer meteors, but they still increase our chances of seeing a 'shooting star'.

There is also a small meteor shower called the kappa Cygnids, which produces a few meteors per hour.

We can also see random meteors that do not belong to any shower.

Peter Brown said it is like a 'meteor Christmas'.

Now, let's talk about the solar eclipse.

On August 12, there will be a total solar eclipse in some parts of the world.

The total eclipse will not be visible from Canada, but we will see a partial eclipse.

The farther east we are, the bigger the moon's shadow on the sun will appear.

If we want to see the eclipse, we must be careful and use special solar eclipse glasses.

Watching the sun being 'eaten' by the moon is very interesting, said Paul Delaney, an astronomer.

A solar eclipse is a great way to see how the Earth, moon, and sun move in space.

It is a very impressive sight.