Gaze at the night sky through a telescope, meet astronomers, and walk along lantern-lit trails at the annual Aldergrove Regional Park meteor shower watch this Saturday (Aug. 10).
Metro Vancouver Regional Park (MVRP) system has hosted celestial events, incuding campouts under the stars, for well over 20 years at the park, said spokesperson Greg Valou.
The perseid shower lasts all month – “it’s like going through a rainstorm,” explained astronomist Gary Boyle of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC).
The cosmic event will reach its active peak into the weekend and Monday.
Meteor Shower Watch from Metro Vancouver on Vimeo.
“The moon will be full and you will see fireballs across the sky a glaze of glory,” he said.
Boyle, an educator, said the shower is the result of “earth ploughing through the debris field” of an old 26-kilometre wide mountain of rock and ice, and could produce up to 100 meteors per hour in the night sky.
The scheduled meteor shower watch – hosted by Metro Vancouver Regional Parks and RASC – will provide blacklight theatres, games and activities on behalf of Science World, the H.R. Macmillan Space Centre and Langley Environmental Protection Society.
Admission is $2, and families are encouraged to camp overnight to extend their star-gazing experience.
The event gets underway at 8 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to meet at the 685 Lefeuvre Road entrance to the Aldergrove Bowl at the park. It will run until 11 p.m.
For information, visit metrovancouver.org/events or call 604-530-4983.
