MOSCOW, September 5. /TASS/. The parent body of the Epsilon-Perseid meteor shower, observed from September 5 to 21, has still not been identified. Scientists suspect it may be an unknown long-period comet, Yevgeny Burmistrov, an expert in astronomy at Perm National Research Polytechnic University, has told TASS.

The Epsilon-Perseid meteor shower is one of the fastest, but relatively weak, showers. This year, the Epsilon-Perseids will reach their peak activity on the night of September 9-10. Astronomers predict up to eight flashes per hour.

"The parent body for this meteor shower has not been determined with any certainty. It is presumably an unknown long-period comet, whose complete orbit around the Sun takes more than two centuries. As it approaches the Sun, its nucleus heats up and releases dust and ice particles, which remain in its orbital trajectory, forming a dust trail. When our Earth crosses this trail, we observe the meteor shower," he added.

In the absence of data on the parent comet, scientists were able to detect the shower through regular observations: in early September, meteors emerged from an area then associated with the star Epsilon Persei every year at the same speed.

"This coincidence testifies to their common origin, which allowed us to identify them as a separate cosmic phenomenon and calculate its orbit. The speed of the falling meteors will reach approximately 64 kilometers per second - one of the highest speeds among meteor showers," Burmistrov said.