Kalin's Call: Best viewing for meteor shower in eastern parts of the Maritimes early Tuesday morning

In this 30 second cameras exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

There is the potential for a significant meteor display in parts of the Maritimes early Tuesday morning.

The event is known as the "Tau Herculids" meteor shower. It is created by the passage of the earth through the fragments of the comet "Schwassmann-Wachmann 3." The prediction for the peak of this shower is being given as around 2 a.m., for the Maritimes.

The radiant point of the meteor shower will be near the bright star "Arcturus," which should be positioned high in the sky and to the west around 2 a.m, according to EarthSky. 

It is also a "New Moon" Monday night, so moonlight won’t be a factor in viewing. You would of course want to get away from city or town lights.

Weather won’t be completely cooperative for the viewing. A weak cold front is moving north to south across the region.

Overnight, the front should be clear of eastern portions of the Maritimes. The sky will likely be clearest from Bathurst to Moncton in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the north shore of mainland Nova Scotia, into Cape Breton.

The remainder of the region will be, at least, partly cloudy, with an area of rain and showers in southwestern New Brunswick, moving into western Nova Scotia.

Unfortunately, it looks like cloudiness and showers will obstruct viewing in western parts of the Maritimes. The best viewing looks likely be in eastern New Brunswick, eastern Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.