The Perseid meteor shower is an annual event occurring Aug. 12 to 13 this year, with peak activity anticipated on Sunday night. The shower is the result of debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet that falls through our atmosphere creating a streak of light. Shannon Schmoll, director of the Abrams Planetarium and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University, explains why the upcoming Perseid meteor shower is a great opportunity to see an object from space closer than usual at a safe distance and with your naked eye.