AMATEUR astronomers are being invited to an East Lancashire observatory tonight to see a man-made 'shooting star' adding sparkle to a spectacular shower of meteors.

The International Space Station will pass over the county at 10.30pm tonight as a dazzling point of light moving rapidly across the sky.

Exceptionally dark skies will provide the best possible conditions thanks to an invisible "new moon" - and there could be as many as 100 meteors or more every hour.

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Peter Drew, of the Astronomy Centre at Todmorden, believes we are in for a treat.

He said: "I would emphasise that you do not need any optical aid for the viewing and on that basis we all have the same opportunity.

"The more expanse of sky you can see and the darker the environment the more meteors will be seen, they will move very fast and there is not enough time to alert someone who is looking somewhere else.

"The Astronomy Centre will be open to the public on Wednesday night until late and we will also be operating radio detection equipment which can identify the pass of meteors too faint to be seen visually thereby giving a better idea of the true numbers.

"There's no need to book, just turn up but wrap up well - this is a static pastime and the cold is soon felt!"

The Perseid meteors appear in August every year as the Earth passes through debris shed by the comet Swift-Tuttle.

The shower is active from around July 17 to August 24 but peaks between late evening today and tomorrow morning.

Dr Joanne Bibby, lecturer in Astrophysics at the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute in Preston, said: "The International Space Station will appear in the West, but will only be around 30 degrees above the horizon so you need to try and be in a relatively open area otherwise the four minute fly-by will be behind trees and houses!

"A very slightly longer fly-by of five minutes will happen on at 9.35pm tonight which will be a little higher in the sky so easier to see – but the weather forecast is currently much better.

"Similarly, the Perseids meteor shower will be visible around 30 degrees above the horizon if you look towards the North-East so again open spaces are better than built up areas.

"If you want to see the peak of the shower then you will have to stay up past midnight into the early hours, but it won’t disappoint either way.

"The best thing about meteor showers is that you don’t need a telescope or even a pair of binoculars to see them, so everyone can get involved."

Robin Scagell, vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said: "The thing about shooting stars is they're a wonderful free spectacle we can all enjoy, assuming clear skies.

"Its best to watch them from the countryside but even in town, these meteors are bright enough for a few to be visible.

"The Perseids are usually fairly bright. Also, they tend to leave a trail, or train, behind them."

Meteors are the result of particles as small as a grain of sand entering the Earth's atmosphere at high speed and burning up.