On the hot summer night on August 12, the spectacular Perseid meteor shower is expected to fill up the sky above the Korean Peninsula.

The Perseid shooting star show is expected to peak for two-and-a-half hours from 10 p.m. on August 12 in Korea, according to the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute on Monday.

The Perseid meteor shower is a phenomenon seen on every August as the comet Swift-Tuttle orbits the Sun. And when the Earth passes through the heart of the tail of the comet, dust and tiny particles of the comet enter the Earth’s atmosphere and make a brilliant flash of light as they fall apart. The Perseid is named after the constellation Perseus where the meteors seem to fly out from.

The astronomy institute says the best place to observe the sky show of the night is an open field away from bright city lights and tall buildings. “Lie down on a field or sit on a reclined chair and simply look at the sky,” the institute said.

About 150 meteors per hour may be observed this year, according to the International Meteor Organization, with an average travel speed of 59 kilometers per second.

The meteors all burn off themselves as they enter the atmosphere and thus cause no threat to the Earth.

By Won Ho-sup

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