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It’s time to watch the most anticipated meteor shower of the year: the Perseids. The dazzling display features streams of light and color traveling across the sky while explosions of fireballs linger, leaving behind even brighter streaks than the meteor trails from the Perseids passing through the atmosphere.
The Perseid meteor shower is visible annually from mid-July to September 1, with peak activity expected between Sunday and before dawn Monday. Up to 100 meteors are expected per hour, moving at a speed of 133,200 miles per hour (214,365 kilometers per hour).
Bill Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, describes the Perseids as the richest meteor shower of the year due to the bright fireballs. It’s “the closest thing each year to a celestial fireworks display,” Cooke said.
These fireballs can surpass 1 meter (3.3 feet) in diameter and are brighter than Venus – according to NASA and Cooke. Venus is one of the most luminous objects in the night sky.
This year is optimal for watching the shower because moonlight conditions will not wash out faint meteors, allowing viewers to observe both bright and dim ones, Cooke said. “Get in the entire shower this year,” he said, pointing out that last year’s moonlight conditions “kind of shut down the show” and obscured dim meteors.
During the peak of the shower, the moon will be 50% illuminated and will set around midnight – ideal conditions for meteor watching with dark skies contrasting with the balls of light.
How to view the Perseids
NASA’s Cooke recommends four tips for optimal viewing. You don’t need instruments such as a telescope or binoculars, but find the darkest sky you can without light pollution. If you can, lie flat on your back and look straight up, taking in as much sky as possible. Give your eyes 30 to 45 minutes to adapt to the dark.
The best time to view the shower is after midnight around 2 a.m., when the source of the meteors will be the highest in the northeastern sky, both experts said. “Mother Nature doesn’t respect people’s sleep,” Cooke joked.
Any sky-gazer can see the shower in the Northern Hemisphere, but “the maximum (peak) will be later so the best place to see (it) is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii,” Lunsford said. The Perseids are not visible in Antarctica because the radiant never rises in the view of the sky there, he added.
Remaining meteor showers
Here are upcoming meteor showers, with the dates they are expected to peak:
Draconids: October 7-8
Orionids: October 21-22
Southern Taurids: November 4-5
Northern Taurids: November 11-12
Leonids: November 17-18
Geminids: December 13-14
Ursids: December 21-22
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/11/science/perseids-meteor-shower-peak-august/index.html