Deputy Director of the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand, Dr. Saran Potyachinda, said many meteor showers occur throughout the year, but the Perseid meteor shower is especially noteworthy as it generally occurs annually between August 12th and 13th and its brightness is considered second only to the Leonid meteor shower.
Advertisement
To watch the meteor shower, find a spot which is out of the city and away from dazzling lights.
According to an article published by NASA, the Earth usually passes through the edge of Swift-Tuttle’s trail, but on occasion, the planet passes through closer to the center, where there is more debris.
The Perseids are over Alabama.
“Under ideal conditions, rates could soar to 200 meteors per hour”, Cooke said.
Normally, the Perseids regale Earthlings with a show of about 100 to 120 shooting stars per hour, but on Thursday, there will be more than double the usual fireball activity associated with the meteor shower.
“The meteors you’ll see this year are from comet flybys that occurred hundreds if not thousands of years ago”, Cooke said.
Every Perseid meteor is a tiny piece of the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun every 133 years. These scattered specks of dust a trail in the comet’s wake are what flash as they enter the atmosphere at a mind-blowing 132,000 miles per hour and burn up.
An August tradition, the Perseids are so named because the meteors appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus, the Medusa-killing hero of Greek mythology.
The best time to view the Perseids is between midnight and dawn.
Advertisement
For stargazers experiencing cloudy or light-polluted skies, a live broadcast of the Perseid meteor shower will be available via Ustream overnight on August 11-12 and Aug. 12-13, beginning at 10 p.m. EDT. Lie on your back and look straight up. But an outburst could mean trouble for spacecraft, NASA said.
