The Perseids are the best-known of the year’s meteor showers, and are usually the most popular as the nights do not get as cold as the other major showers in the winter.
The Perseid meteor shower is underway. There’s more to see than meteors, however, when the shower peaks on August 11th through 13th. The brightest planets in the solar system are lining up in the middle of the display.
Maximum this year is predicted for 10.00 pm on 12 August, which means that the night of 11-12 August should give the highest observed rates, with the night of Aug. 12-13 next best. The Moon will be only a thin waning crescent, and won’t rise until late in the night, so moonlight won’t interfere this year.
“We expect to see meteor rates as high as a hundred per hour,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office. “The Perseids always put on a good show.”
The shower actually begins with a low level of activity at the end of July, building up gradually in intensity until the maximum, and then declining until it ends about 19-20 August. With Full Moon occurring on 2 August, the best period for observation will be from about 7 August onwards.
Perseids can be seen any time after 10 to 11 pm. The best time to look, however, is during the dark hours immediately before dawn. Also, advises Cooke, avoid city lights if possible. Faint meteors are easily lost in the urban glare. A visit to the countryside will typically triple the number of meteors you see.
The meteors appear to come from the constellation of Perseus, which will be rising in the North East as darkness falls, but they can be seen anywhere in the sky. The best area to look is to centre your gaze on an area of sky about 50 degrees to the left or right of the radiant (whichever is clearer and darker), and about 55 degrees above the horizon. The Perseids are tiny particles cast off by comet 109p Swift-Tuttle.
Perseids are swift, and often bright, and in a clear dark sky you should see an average of at least one per minute, including a few spectacular fireballs.
On August 13th, with the shower just beginning to wane, the planets put on their best show yet: The 17% crescent moon will pass less than 3 degrees from Venus as Jupiter hovers overhead. Sky watchers say there’s nothing prettier than a close encounter between the slender crescent Moon and Venus – nothing, that is, except for the crescent Moon, Venus and a flurry of Perseids.
It’s only natural, while you’re watching a meteor shower like the Perseids, to count the number of shooting stars you see. It turns out those numbers in your head are valuable. NASA wants them. Meteor tallies gathered by amateur sky watchers can be used by NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office to study and model the Perseid debris stream.
“We’ve developed an app for Android and iPhones to help amateur sky watchers count meteors in a scientific way and report the results to us,” says Cooke. “It’s called the ‘Meteor Counter’ and it’s available for free in the Android Market and Apple’s App Store.”
Worldwide observers are now reporting more than 30 Perseids per hour, a number that could triple during the weekend when Earth reaches the heart of the debris zone. Forecasters recommend looking during the dark hours before dawn, especially Sunday morning, August 12th, when activity is expected to be highest.
Don’t miss it.
Filed under: Meteors & Meteorites
