Doha: The rare Perseid Aquarid meteor shower is expected to illuminate the skies of Qatar from Wednesday evening until the dawn of Thursday. People in the northern part of the country will have higher chances of witnessing the meteor shower, Qatar Calendar House (QCH) said in a statement.

According to QCH Astronomer Dr Beshir Marzouk, the Perseid meteor shower is one of the highly important meteor showers seen from Earth as it flows with an average rate of 60 to 100 meteors per hour. The said meteor shower usually occurs from July 23 until August 24 yearly. Its peak is set to happen from the evening of August 12 till the dawn of August 13. 

"To observe the meteor shower, one does not require astronomical instrumentations, so Qatar residents and countries in the northern hemisphere can see the Perseid meteor shower with the naked eye from dark places and pure sky," Dr Marzouk added. 

To properly witness the meteor shower, residents and citizens should look to the northeast horizon of the sky from midnight of August 12 until the dawn of August 13. The meteor shower can also be captured through digital cameras by simply increasing its exposure for best outputs. 

Perseid meteor shower is created through debris from "Swift-Tuttle Comet", as the Earth passes through the dust and debris it leaves behind in the last week of July and mid-August. 

The Swift-Tuttle Comet approaches the Sun every 133 years. It last approached the Sun in 1992 and is set to do so again in 2125. 

QCH reiterated that the best time to observe the meteor shower is from Wednesday midnight until Thursday dawn, in a dark place without environmental pollutions.

SOURCE: THEPENINSULAQATAR