It’s time once again for the Perseid meteor shower!
Meteors from this annual celestial display are remnants from the ancient comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun and deposits debris every 133 years.
And it’s during mid-August that the Earth, also in its orbit around the sun, plows into these dusty remains.
When any of these pieces — most smaller than a grain of sand — slam into our upper atmosphere at speeds of some 134,000 mph, they burn up, and we on the ground see them as “falling” or “shooting” stars.
The Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak on the mornings of Aug. 12 and 13 this year, but stargazers can certainly see some for a few days before and after.
To view them most efficiently, one must head outdoors in the hours before dawn. This is when we on Earth are facing the direction that our planet is moving, so our planet scoops up more of these meteoric particles than during the evening hours.
All you need is a dark sky far from city lights, a sleeping bag or reclining lawn chair, and your eyes that have been fully adapted to the dark.
That’s it.
Simply lie back and visually take in as much of the sky as you can. The hardest part is to remain awake!
We often hear that we should see 60-100 meteors per hour. That sounds like quite a dramatic shower, but it comes out to maybe one per minute.
This year it may be less, since the waning gibbous moon will appear in the predawn sky and will reduce the number of faint meteors. Fortunately, there are enough bright meteors to make the show worthwhile.
This 60-100 range is known as the zenithal hourly rate, or ZHR. It’s a theoretical number that represents the most meteors that an experienced skywatcher can see under a perfectly dark sky with excellent transparency, and with perfect vision, taking in the entire sky.
Though the number visible may be considerably lower, it’s still worth setting the alarm to see the show.
Many bright meteors will still be visible. Besides, there will be even more to see in the hours before dawn this week.
In addition to the moon and Perseids, the early morning sky of Aug. 12 will feature four planets: Venus, Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn.
About a half-hour to 45 minutes before sunrise, the bright planets Venus and Jupiter will appear less than 1 degree apart, meaning they will both be visible in the field of view of a low-powered telescope.
Keep an eye on them for a few mornings before and after the 12th, and you’ll see how they drift past each other in the sky.
Also on that morning, look low in the eastern sky for the elusive planet Mercury. Much fainter than the two other planets, it’s a tough one to spot, since it never strays far from the sun’s glare.
And be sure to look for Saturn not far to the east of the moon.
Quite a performance to look forward to on the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 12! Now all we need to do is hope for clear skies!
