As summer reaches its peak, one of the most eagerly anticipated celestial events of the year is upon us: the phenomenal and miraculous meteor shower especially the Perseid one. The annual celebration of this spectacle, which is said to exhibit a shower of a meteor falling from the sky, is to be a fascinating one.
The Perseid Meteor Shower: The following post will include general expectations for what students will experience in this class.
The Perseid meteor shower graces the sky from mid-July until September 1st, with the peak predicted to be from the early hours of Monday after Sunday night. At the height of the shower, the skygazers can see up to 100 meteors an hour all of which travel at a speed of 133,200 miles per hour (214,365km per hour).
Bill Cooke, the director of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, has defined the Perseids as the most active meteor shower of the year, mostly owing to fireballs. These fireballs, which at times can measure over 1 meter.
Speaking with Robert Lunsford, the fireball report coordinator at the American Meteor Society, such fireballs seem to be described as natural fireworks. “Bigger and brighter than any star or planet in the sky,” Lunsford said, that is how those fireballs were described based on their appearance; it is noteworthy that they are accompanied by persistent smoke-like trails that decay gradually within several seconds.
Peak Observing Conditions This Year
These four increasingly rare opportunities are good because the moon’s light will not obscure even the dimmest of meteors in this year’s Perseid meteor shower. Last year, the moon practically obscured the sight of the shower at night, but this year the moon will only be crescent and will be out of the way by midnight. This provides the best dark sky environment for observing both the bright and faint meteors as they illuminate the night.
About this year’s conditions, the Cooke has important remarks: there are no clear nights with the shining of the bright moon, so people can enjoy the pageant. He reminds people that ‘This may be your only chance to catch these celestial fireworks’ in this case referring to the Perseids this year in full.
The science behind the spectacle
Like many meteor showers, the Perseid meteor shower is named after the constellation from which the meteors seem to come, in this case, Perseus. This radiant point can be easily determined using an application such as a star chart and couples can see where it directs them to look in the sky.
The meteors themselves are bits and pieces of the comet known as Swift-Tuttle which was first observed by an Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli in the year 1865. These are the debris trails that the earth moves through annually and as the particles come into contact with the earth’s atmosphere, they burn out providing vigor to the meteor display annually.
Controlling the reminder that opens up for viewing the Perseid meteor shower
For the best positioning of the telescope, Cooke from NASA recommends the following points. First, choose a place with the least interference in terms of illumination from the artificial light from buildings in the city. Nothing is as exotic as the sky and no optical aids such as telescopes or binoculars are required to view the sky: just lie on your back on the ground with your eyes facing directly upwards.
It will take about 30-45 minutes to get your required amount of darkness to adjust to the blood vessels in your eyes. At this time, do not watch your cell phone because the light emitted affects the eye’s night vision. Cozy and pleasantly watch as meteors start flying in the sky, do not get nervous.
This also agrees with Lunsford who encourages one to bring a chair that is appropriately comfortable to sit back and look up at the whole sky. The show is very well-preferred at dawn which is around 2 am when the radiant point in the northeastern sky is most or highest. The Perseids can be observed from any location in the Northern Hemisphere, but observing should be made away from city lights.
Even More Meteor Showers On The Way
If you miss the Perseids, don’t worry—there are several more meteor showers to look forward to this year: If you miss the Perseids, don’t worry—there are several more meteor showers to look forward to this year:
- 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
Still, every one of these showers is different in the sense that the number of meteors and fireballs shooting across the night sky may differ significantly.
One Heavenly Experience Which Makes One Stay Up All Night
In his words, the Perseid meteor shower is one that people should not lose any opportunity to witness. Cooke compares the term used by newbies, ‘rainin’ fire in the sky’, to the lyrics from a song by John Denver, ‘Rocky Mountain High’.
Therefore, assemble the people you care about, go to a place where there is little to no light pollution, and get ready to witness the Perseid meteor shower. It is the extraordinary journey you will find yourself taking due to the beauty and the marvel that is our universe.
