This week saw the start of the summer’s most beautiful meteor shower, and astronomers expect it to be a great year to view this celestial phenomenon.
The Perseid meteor shower began on Sunday and lasted into September. The best day to view the shooting stars is August 12.
Stargazers can expect to see 100 to 150 shooting stars per hour. These can be seen all over the US, but in an area without light pollution they are much larger.
Perseids occur every year when Earth plows through the debris left by comet Swift-Tuttle during its travels through the interior solar system.
The Perseids (pictured from Slovenia) are considered the best meteor shower of the year. The pieces of space debris that interact with our atmosphere to create the meteor shower come from the comet Swift-Tuttle
The Perseid meteor shower can be seen with the naked eye from locations with clear skies, little light pollution, and unobstructed views.
The best time to view the swarm is when the sky is darkest, between 11pm and sunrise.
To find the meteor shower, viewers should look for the constellation Perseus, the 24th largest constellation in the sky.
The constellation is located in the northern part of the night sky.
There are apps that make it easy to find the constellation, such as Night Sky and Sky Guide. These apps show where the user is looking by simply pointing the phone’s camera at the sky.
Perseid meteors travel at speeds of 214,000 kilometers per hour when they hit Earth’s atmosphere. Most are visible to spectators when they are about 96 kilometers from the Earth’s surface.
The Perseid meteor shower originates from the comet Swift-Tuttle, which has a diameter of 25 kilometers. Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli first associated the meteor shower with the event in 1865.
The first Perseid meteors streaked across the night sky on Sunday, but astronomers say the peak is expected on August 12, but it will be active until September 1. The Perseid gets its name from the constellation Perseus, which is visible in the Northern Hemisphere and parts of the Southern Hemisphere.
Perseid meteors travel at 133,200 miles per hour when they hit Earth’s atmosphere, and most become visible to viewers when they are about 60 miles from the surface. Pictured: Perseid meteor seen over Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado in 2018
The meteors are seen as the Earth flies through the debris of ice and rock left behind when Comet Swift-Tuttle flew past the Earth at a distance of 135,000 kilometers in 1992. The comet orbits the Earth every 133 years.
“Most other comets are much smaller, with nuclei only a few kilometers across,” said Bill Cooke, director of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office.
‘As a result, Comet Swift-Tuttle produces a large number of meteorites, many of which are large enough to produce fireballs.’
Cooke recommended capturing the fireballs in a dark location, away from city lights and light pollution in general.
“Fireballs can be seen from urban areas,” Cooke said, “but the much larger number of faint Perseids are only visible from rural areas.”
The name Perseid comes from the constellation Perseus, which is visible in the Northern Hemisphere and parts of the Southern Hemisphere.
“Perseus is a mythological Greek character,” said Francisco Salas, manager of the Fiske Planetarium Colorado University Boulder Today.
“Perseus is the one who killed Medusa. When he cut off her head, he was able to kill the sea monster. And do you know what happens when you see Medusa’s head? You turn into a rock.”
There are more myths about Perseus that are associated with the Perseid.
Like the constellation Perseus, Perseid meteors are visible all over the world, but they are best seen in the Northern Hemisphere.