It's the brightest meteor shower of the year - a cosmic fireworks show fueled by flecks of space dust no larger than grains of sand. The annual Perseid meteor shower - due to peak Thursday night - is driving excitement among veteran stargazers, who are encouraging neophytes to tune in for what promises to be one of the brighter displays in memory. For that, you can thank Colorado's pale new moon. "This year there will be almost no moonlight during the most intense part of the showers," said Travis Schenck, director of the Space Foundation's Discovery Center in Colorado Springs, making it easier than normal to find a dark canvas for the show, which involves bursts of white light that arc across the night sky, sometimes Read more on Colorado Springs Gazette