Shanghai residents should be able to see a meteor shower and a lunar eclipse in the next few days.

This year's Perseids meteor shower will occur from tomorrow night to early Wednesday, four days before a partial lunar eclipse.

One of three major meteor showers in the northern hemisphere, Perseids is visible from mid-July each year, with the greatest activity between August 8 and 14, peaking about August 12.

At its peak, the rate of meteors shooting across the sky reaches 60 or more an hour.

They can be seen all across the heavens, but won't be easily visible in downtown areas because of air and light pollution and light disturbance, astronomers said.

The shower this year will be at its most prominent from 7:30pm to 10pm tomorrow and 12:40am to 5:30am on Wednesday.

Sunday's partial lunar eclipse will start at 2:23am.

It won't be visible in most areas of China, however, as the moon will have already set.

(Shanghai Daily August 11, 2008)