Look up Thunder Bay — here's how you can see the meteor shower tonight

Fort William Historical Park is offering a viewing of the Perseid Meteor Shower at the David Thompson Astronomical Observatory (DTAO) tonight. 

Around 80 visitors will have the chance to see nearly 50 to 100 meteors colliding every hour with the Earth's atmosphere as the planet passes through the debris field of the 1992 comet Swift-Tuttle.

This once-a-year meteor shower is visible in the night sky across northern Ontario from mid-July to the beginning of September, with the peak happening on Aug. 12 between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. ET. 

"We're really excited about our ability to be able to do this, to be able to facilitate people coming here and looking at the shower," said Jonathan Reid, an environmental, ecological and outdoor education specialist at Fort William Historical Park.

"But, also we're able to show people as well as talk about the history in this area, the relationship between the European fur traders and the initial Anishinaabe peoples and the many other nations that were trading across Turtle Island."

Reid said the upcoming meteor shower — for now — occurs annually and is one of the most accessible events for those interested in astronomy. If the sky is clear, he said, viewers won't need a telescope or even binoculars to see "things raining down in the sky."

The observatory will also offer some children's crafts, a meteorite session with the park's meteorite collection at the back of its property, guest appearance from photographer Kay Lee of the Thunder Bay Starchasers, and a keynote talk by Reid at the fireplace about the meteor shower and what meteors have meant to people for thousands of years.

However, the event is not limited to watching the light show through the observatory's telescopes — or via live stream if the sky is not clear — and these activities. Indigenous staff will also share their knowledge of the sky based on the Anishinaabe teachings of astronomy.

Reid said it's important to educate people not only in modern Western science but equally, if not more so, in the Indigenous perspective on the night sky, which is not as often shared. 

"I think any opportunity that we can get to be able to facilitate the sharing of that knowledge is not just important for the observatory, but also equally for the site as well, the historic site at Fort William and also just for the idea of reconciliation and learning about the culture," said Reid.

Indigenous perspectives on astronomy

Wilford Buck, also known as the Star Guy, is a science facilitator from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. He said the Perseid meteor shower gained its name from looking like it emanates from the constellation Perseus, but for his people, the stars of Perseus, Origa and Andromeda are part of a larger constellation called Nimaau, the sturgeon.

"That's pretty significant for my people's coming life because the sturgeon talks about bloodlines, it talks about clans, it talks about generations, it talks about relatives, it talks about ancestors," said Buck.

He added he has also made it his mandate to put this First Nations perspective in the sciences.

"One of the elders told me one of the easiest ways we could get our students interested in science is to get them outside at night and look at the sky. And since that is in the curriculum — astronomy, space, planets — I thought that was a real nice fit," said Buck.

Fort William Historical Park invites the public to return to the DTAO for its biweekly meetings with the local chapter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, a Holidays on Mars event in December and a Cultural Constellations event in February.

"Anyone can come and learn about space and if it's clear, we'll often use the scope as well or some of the scopes they bring," Reid said.