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"Brightly lit particles will zip through the atmosphere during the annual Perseid meteor showers this week.:In North America, the celestial firework display is expected to peak late Thursday night or early Friday morning.

* INDEPTH: The lowdown on meteors

The Perseid shower occurs when gravel-sized debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle pass through Earth's atmosphere at more than 200,000 kilometres per hour and then burns up.

The heated air lights up a long trail – the 'shooting star.'"