The Digital Teacher: Science : The Perseids meteor shower : Look up to the stars !

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Science : The Perseids meteor shower : Look up to the stars !

The Perseids shower

credits: Jeremy Perez

What are some skywatching highlights in August 2020? See the Moon posing with various planets throughout the month, plus catch the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower.

The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks on the morning of August 12th. The last-quarter moon will interfere with visibility of most fainter Perseid meteors this year, but you'll still be able to see a few brighter ones, including the occasional "fireball."

The best time to look is in the pre-dawn hours on Aug. 12, but midnight to dawn any morning the week before or after should produce a few meteors.

The Perseids generally appear to radiate from a point high in the north, called the "radiant." But you need only point yourself generally toward the north and look up.

And while we're talking meteors, did you know many of these "shooting stars" come from comets? Most of the annual meteor showers we observe take place as Earth passes through trails of debris left behind by active comets orbiting the Sun, casting off little bits of dusty debris in their long tails.

Comet Swift-Tuttle

https://great-spacing.com/publication/66097/

Some information:

The Perseid meteors come from a comet called Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 133 years. This is also the reason for the formation of the annual Perseid meteor shower on Earth.

Every year from mid-July to late August, observers are able to admire burning cometary debris all over the sky. This year, the peak comes from the evening of August 12 until the morning of the 13th. The moon will enter a phase of the crescent, eliminating additional lighting. The sky will be perfectly dark for viewing the meteor shower.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich in London said: “As the bits of rock and dust in the stream of debris collide with the Earth’s atmosphere, they burn up and create fiery streaks across the sky.”

Education:

A veritable ritual for summer stargazers, the Perseids are considered one of nature's best fireworks shows, with dozens of shooting stars an hour falling at peak times.

This annual meteor shower comes as Earth passes through the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, causing bright streaks that appear as though they’re radiating from the constellation Perseus. The Perseids will peak this weekend between, when moonless nights will make for an especially dark sky.

The peak morning of the Perseid meteor shower is most likely August 12, under the light of a wide waning crescent moon.

The mornings of August 11 and 13 are worth trying, too. The morning of August 13 will present a thinner and less bright moon than on the previous dates … and also more hours of dark sky for meteor watching. So moonrise is a key factor for watching 2020’s Perseid meteor shower.

Visit Sunrise Sunset Calendars to find out when the moon rises in your sky, remembering to check the moonrise and moonset box.

Also, keep in mind that the Perseids tend to be bright. So we expect a number of them to overcome the moonlit glare over the next several mornings. Will you see as many as 40 to 50 meteors per hour in the predawn hours? Maybe!