It has been reported that the annual Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak on Wednesday and that will be very exciting for skywatchers. It is going to happen for the first time since 2007, when it will appear along with a new moon, leading to favorable conditions for viewing.

Up to 100 meteors could be seen every hour, when the shower is at peak. The Perseids are pieces of Comet Swift-Tuttle and every year in August, our planet moves through a cloud of debris of the comet. Long ago, Swift-Tuttle removed this material, and at present, it is spread like a "river of rubble" all along orbit of the comet around the Sun.

As per reports, these particles of dust and ice that range from the size of sand's grain to nearly as large as a pea, strike atmosphere of the Earth at nearly 60km/s. While doing so, they heat the air that is present around them, leading to the distinctive streak of light observed from the ground.

It seems that from the ground, this shower of meteors emerges from a single point, known as a "radiant", which is in the constellation of Perseus. Each year, the shower appears from around 17 July to 24 August, however during most of that time, just a few meteors an hour could be seen.

According to Alan MacRobert, senior editor at Sky & Telescope magazine, "The nearly moonless sky this year means the viewing will be excellent".