South West Turkey, where the sky is clear nearly every night, is a great place to watch the 2011 Perseid meteor shower.

At the end of July through to August the earth passes through a trail of debris left by the comet called Swift-Tuttle.

This meteor shoots out of the constellation called the Perseus and this is why they have been called the "Perseids".

The comet is travelling away from Earth towards Uranus right now but it has left a long trail of space dust behind it.

As the Earth crosses this dust trail the atmosphere is pelted by the tiny dust particles at speeds of 132,000 mph.

At this speed the dust combusts and this creates that amazing sight what we know a meteor or shooting stars.

The night sky has already started to light up with a few shooting stars and with a new moon on the 30th July the sky will be nice and dark.

Keen observers should look to the north east where Perseus first rises after sunset.

This is the time to look for Perseid Earthgrazers--meteors that approach from the horizon and skim the atmosphere overhead like a stone skipping across the surface of a pond.

Earthgrazers are the most impressive because they are long, slow and colourful.

To get the best view of the meteors make sure you get away from the bright street lights and head for somewhere where you will have a good view of the north and eastern sky (left of there where the sun rises for those www.fethiyetimes.com readers that don’t have compass).

Lying on the ground on a blanket or a sun bed affords the best viewing position.

The morning of 12th or 13th August will be the time when the meteors are at their most but the full moon will obscure all but the brightest.

The earth will move out of the trail of comet dust on 18th August providing ample time to wish upon a shooting star.