What is a meteor shower?
A meteor shower is when our planet’s orbit around the Sun takes it through a stream of dust and cosmic debris – meteoroids.
These have been left in the inner solar system by a comet.
Most of these comets do not leave much cosmic material for Earth to encounter.
However, when a giant comet does cross our planet’s path, it can leave its mark.
In the case of tonight’s Perseids, the culprit is a giant comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
This comet last arrived in the Solar System in 1992 and the dirty snowball will return in 2126.
source: express.co.uk