SHOOTING STARS TO LIGHT UP BULGARIA’S SKIES

Spectators in Bulgaria will have the chance to see the Perseid meteor shower in the early hours on 13th of August. They will not need a telescope to see the meteors.

Areas away from the interference of the city lights are the best locations for viewing the shooting stars.

Spectators could see up to 100 streaking meteors per hour.

The Perseid meteors occur when the Earth ploughs into debris left behind from comet Swift-Tuttle. It passes through our solar system once every 130 years and last reached closest approach to the sun in 1992.

When comets gets close to the sun, they warm up and the sun's heat causes them to emit gas and dust.  The gas and dust form the plasma tail of the comet, explains Pencho Mareshki from the Institute of Astronomy in Bulgaria.

The dust comets emit spreads into a dusty trail around their orbits. Every year the Earth passes through these debris trails, which allows the bits to collide with the Earth’s atmosphere where they disintegrate to create colorful streaks in the sky.

According to a popular belief, wishes come true if people made them when seeing a shooting star.