The annual Perseid meteor shower will reach its peak this week, giving amateur skywatchers with clear dark skies a potentially dazzling celestial light show.
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For observers across New England, an area of low pressure will bring clouds and thunderstorms during the meteor shower, resulting in poor viewing conditions, stated AccuWeather Meteorologist Jordan Root. “Fortunately, in 2015, the waning crescent moon comes up shortly before sunrise, so you’re guaranteed of dark skies for this year’s Perseid meteor shower”.
The meteor shower itself is actually active each year from around July 17 to about August 24.
NASA says the Perseid meteor shower should be especially visible this week because the moon won’t be.
As a kid, watching the annual Perseid meteor shower was a tradition with my family and those great memories are still with me today. But in fact, the real cause of the Perseids is the Earth passing through the debris trail left by comet Swift-Tuttle.
Here’s everything you need to know about making the most of this fascinating and rare event. The show should be pretty intense; predictions range from one meteor every few minutes to 100 meteors an hour streaking across the night sky, so if you’re the wishing type, you may want to make a list in advance.
The best time for viewing is after midnight, when the meteors will pick up steam until the “wee hours before dawn”, according to EarthSky.
The Perseids have been observed for at least 2,000 years and are associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun once every 133 years. If you don’t have one of those, you can always paint the clear filter with red fingernail polish.
The meteors will streak across the sky at about 60 kilometres per second from near the constellation Perseus that the meteor shower is named for.
The meteors appear to come from a point in the constellation of Perseus, hence the name Perseid. To have the best chance of seeing a meteor, pick a dark area (as far from bright city lights as possible) and face northeast.
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If you’d like to take a closer look at the Perseids or any of the other wonderful and incredible things in the sky, please visit KRCC.org or CSASTRO.org for a link to information on our monthly meetings and our free public star parties!
