Canadian sky watchers get a glimpse of spectacular meteor shower

Sky watchers across Canada were treated to a particularly lively version of the annual Perseid meteor shower, thanks to a favourable weather forecast for much of the country.

During the Perseid shower, Earth passes through an entire stream of meteors all moving in the same direction. Under ideal conditions, dozens of meteors per hour can be seen lighting up the sky around the shower's peak, which this year fell on Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

The shower was most active before dawn on Thursday, local time, when Perseus sat high above the northeastern horizon for observers across much of Canada.