The Perseid meteor shower will peak this year early Saturday morning over Cochrane. 

Local photographer, Dylan Kaniski is gearing up for some sleepless nights to ensure the perfect shot. “I'm always really excited for this meteor shower, it is one of the biggest of the year and we always get a lot of great meteors.”

Meteor showers are clouds of debris left when comets zoom past Earth on their way around the sun. The Perseids come from the comet Swift-Tuttle, which was last visible in 1992. While Cochranites won’t be seeing the comet again until 2125, in the meantime, sky gazers can enjoy the yearly shower from the debris. 

“It does change every year and some years are better than others. But this one is special because the Perseids are pretty consistent from year to year. I usually get a really good shot and that's why people are really excited about this.”

Unfortunately, a full moon will make it trickier to see this year but Kaniski has plenty of tips for people looking to experience the Perseids for the first time.

“The best way to view the meteor shower is to first get somewhere dark. It doesn't have to be anywhere super far. I personally like going to the mountains but anywhere around Cochrane, you can go to the countryside just 10 minutes out of town.”

“If you can't make it out of town, just go into a local park or even turning your back to any streetlights and just letting your eyes adjust is going to help out.”

He also believes you don’t need top-of-the-line photography equipment to get breathtaking shots.

“You don't need any fancy equipment or anything special. Meteors do move quite fast and they're usually quite bright so you don't really have any struggles capturing them with any-level cameras.”

“For advice on cameras, I like to do a higher ISO around like 6,400 and usually a 20-second exposure time. If people are heading out and want to capture it with their cameras, I suggest using a focal length that's a little bit tighter because a lot of meteors can be a bit smaller, and having a tighter focal length will allow you to emphasize the size of the meteor. Something like 20 to 35 millimeters is what I would recommend.”

”I'd stay away from the super wide angle lenses that you see a lot of nighttime and landscape photographers using.”

While the 2022 Perseid meteor shower will peak early on August 13, 2022, meteors could be visible on clear nights leading up to and past Saturday morning.