Photo: syfy.com

The Perseid meteor shower will be visible in the skies above the Okanagan tonight and tomorrow night.

A shower of a different nature is expected over the Valley this week.

The Perseid meteor shower will be at its peak Aug. 12, but will be visible Aug. 11 and Aug. 13.

And as long as Mother Nature cooperates with clear skies, it is expected to be quite a show.

The Canadian Space Agency website states: During the peak, typically in the darkest hours after midnight, up to 50 to 80 meteors per hour can streak across the sky. To be even more specific, look up at the sky between moonset and dawn to see the most meteors of the night.

According to the NASA website: The Perseids are considered the best meteor shower of the year. With very fast and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long "wakes" of light and colour behind them as they streak through Earth's atmosphere. The Perseids are one of the most plentiful showers and occur with warm summer nighttime weather, allowing sky watchers to easily view them.

“Perseids are also known for their fireballs. Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak. This is due to the fact that fireballs originate from larger particles of cometary material.”

The Perseids are best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere during the pre-dawn hours, though at times it is possible to view meteors from this shower as early as 10 p.m.

For optimal viewing, the Canadian Space Agency recommends finding a dark vantage point away from light pollution.

According to Environment Canada, conditions are supposed to be mainly clear for the next few days, so sky gazers may be in luck.