Paris Alston: This is GBH’s Morning Edition. Tropical Storm Debby is sending some rain showers our way this week. And once that storm passes, we’ll have another shower Sunday night. But this time, it’s a meteor shower.

Jeremy Siegel: The annual Perseid Meteor shower is one of the best opportunities of the year to catch this type of celestial showing. And to chat more about that for our weekly science deep dive, we’re joined now by GBH meteorologist Dave Epstein. Good morning Dave.

Dave Epstein: Good morning.

Siegel: So what is so special about the Perseid shower that gives it a better viewing opportunity than other meteor showers?

Epstein: Yeah. You know, there’s a few things I think. For one is it happens in the summer. And I think that summertime is a much easier time to sort of get outside in the middle of the night and look up. Some of the meteor showers we have in December or other times of the year when it’s cold and cloudy, it’s more difficult to see them. So that’s number one. Also, there are 50 to 100 meteors on a good year. Every year is a little bit different because of where the Earth’s passing through the comet debris. Also, the moon can play a big factor, but in a good year, we can see 50 to 100 of these things. And that’s pretty formidable and really memorable. I used to take kids when I was a counselor at overnight camp. I would take the kids up to the upper ballfield. We’d lay down in a blanket, we’d find an open space. We’d look up. It’s just sort of one of those magical times of summer at night.

Alston: So, Dave, one of the other meteor showers we’ve discussed with you is the Geminid meteor shower. How does this one differ?

Epstein: Yeah. So the Geminid meteor shower is just a different meteor shower that occurs because of a different debris field that we’re passing through. This one we’re passing through, the debris field of the comet Swift-Tuttle. And so as the Earth goes through that debris field, we see these meteors, which are basically little pieces of dust and rock and things that are burning up in our atmosphere as they come down towards Earth. Sometimes you can see a fireball which is a little bit bigger, and now we see those streaking across the sky. That’s really the big difference.

Siegel: Fireballs and meteors coming across the sky are extremely exciting. This weekend is our chance to see it. Are we expecting good weather conditions for this? How’s the forecast looking?

Epstein: Yeah, that’s a great question. Of course, it doesn’t matter how many meteors are streaking across the sky if it’s cloudy and you don’t see them. So we have the remnants of Debby, which will be moving in here for Thursday evening and Friday. And then it’s moving fairly quickly. It’s forecast to be up across northern sections of New England by Saturday. And that means we clear out. So I do think that the early morning hours of Sunday and Monday, skies should be clear enough to see this. Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t get some clouds that move in. Cloud cover forecast is one of the most difficult things because of course, you know, like with the eclipse, especially that we had back in April, five minutes of cloudy conditions in a bad time are going to really affect things. The good news here is that you can start seeing the meteors around 10:00 and see them all the way up until about 4 a.m. So that’s a very long window in order to watch the meteors here later this weekend.

Alston: And where should folks go if they want to see this?

Epstein: Yeah. So you don’t really have to go anywhere special except you want to get somewhere dark. So if you can get away from city lights, you’ll see more of them. Even in downtown Boston, some of the brighter meteors, if you looked up and had a view of the sky, you would actually see them. But, you know, places that are kind of higher up, maybe a hilltop away from city lights, you want to lay down. I like to get a blanket, let your eyes adjust for 20 to 30 minutes. Kind of just look up and you will see them after a short amount of time. You’ll also see other things moving around up there. Of course, you’ll see the stars, but you can also see satellites as well. Those are things that look like stars that are moving really rapidly. And it’s really easy to spot satellites. And since there are so many of those up there as well.

Siegel: That is GBH meteorologist Dave Epstein with his weekly science deep dive. And a reminder that if you ever have a question or a suggestion for a topic to take a deep dive into, you can text them to us at 617-300-2008. Dave, thanks so much and happy meteor viewing.

Epstein: Thank you.

Alston: This is GBH News.

The annual Perseid meteor shower, which peaks in the early hours of Monday morning, is one of the best opportunities of the year to catch a celestial showing.

GBH’s meteorologist Dave Epstein looks forward to it every year.

“That’s pretty formidable and really memorable,” he told GBH’s Morning Edition. “I used to take kids when I was a counselor at overnight camp. I would take the kids up to the upper ballfield. We’d lay down in a blanket, we’d find an open space, we’d look up. It’s just sort of one of those magical times of summer at night.”

The shower happens when earth passes through the Swift-Tuttle Comet’s tail, Epstein said.

“As the Earth goes through that debris field, we see these meteors, which are basically little pieces of dust and rock and things that are burning up in our atmosphere as they come down towards Earth,” he said. “Sometimes you can see a fireball which is a little bit bigger, and now we see those streaking across the sky.”

This year, Boston should have clear skies for the shower’s peak, Epstein said. There’s also a relatively long window of time: 10 p.m. Sunday to 4 a.m. Monday.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Debby will move through Massachusetts Thursday evening and Friday, he said, and cross northern New England Saturday.

“I do think that the early morning hours of Sunday and Monday, skies should be clear enough to see this,” he said. “Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t get some clouds that move in. Cloud cover forecast is one of the most difficult things because of course, like with the eclipse that we had back in April, five minutes of cloudy conditions in a bad time are going to really affect things.”

Epstein said seeing it anywhere should do, as long as there’s not too much light pollution.

“If you can get away from city lights, you’ll see more of them,” he said. “Places that are kind of higher up, maybe a hilltop away from city lights. You want to lay down — I like to get a blanket — let your eyes adjust for 20 to 30 minutes. Kind of just look up and you will see them after a short amount of time.”