There's a special treat in the skies Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
Avid and occasional stargazers who tilt their heads toward the night sky will get a glimpse of the Perseids meteor shower.
One of the most famous meteor showers, as many as 15 meteors per hour will stretch across the sky, as they do every August. Optimal viewing time is between 9:30 and 10 p.m.
The Perseids meteors are particles, no bigger than a grain of sand, that enter the Earth's atmosphere at speeds of over 200,000 kilometres per hour and vaporize on contact with the air. The heated air lights up in a long, fiery tail known as a shooting star.
The Montreal Planetarium has organized an event to celebrate the scientific phenomenon at Iles de Boucherville Park, where conditions are optimal for watching the skies.
Astronomers will be on hand to help the uninitiated stargazer understand the Perseids, and will provide telescopes for a closer view of the meteors, and of the moon and Jupiter.
To best view the streaming streaks of light, astronomers advise avoiding bright city lights - and look up.
