The annualPerseid meteor showerwill be an event you’re able to not overlook this class . It is going to apex on the night of August 11 and will still provide good wake on August 12 . But this year is special . It will be what astronomers call an " outburst , " meaning that it ’s decease to render some great viewing .
In a normal year , the meteor cascade rain down around 100 shooting star per hour at its peak . In an outburst , there can be from160 - 200 meteors an hour . Astalked about antecedently , the show takes place when the Earth ’s reach intersects with the tail of the ancient Swift - Tuttle comet . In an outburst , gravitational forces from Jupiter bring the Earth ’s reach closer to the actual comet , think that more debris from the tail herald down on Earth .
The outburst is n’t just lend more meteors than common ; it ’s bringing the year ’s best viewing of bolide . " The last Perseid burst , which happened in 2009 , was pretty spectacular , with a fair routine of ball of fire mixed in with the regular meteors,“said Bill Cookeof NASA ’s Meteoroid Environments Office . " I would think that this yr ’s display , on the Nox of the 11th / first light of the 12th , would be exchangeable . "
2013 Perseid Meteor Shower|Flickr | mLu.fotos
The Best Way to Watch
The Perseids will be best consider on the night of the 11th into the 12th , though there should still be a right show on the 12th , with more meteor coming in over the weekend , though they will come at a slower rate . The peak hour on the first Nox should be between midnight and dawn .
To best consider the shower bath , get as far away from city spark as potential . A dark orbit is optimal . However , with such a spectacular video display this yr , stargazers may even be able-bodied to see some meteor inside cities . But the best viewings will be far from light contamination .
compact up a blanket and some wine and head by from the city . Then face up to the sky and bump the constellation Perseus ( possibly play a star mapping as well ) . The Perseid shooting star exhibitor gets its name because the meteor appear to be falling from that constellation . That ’s where you ’ll get a good concentration of the meteor .
NASA
to boot , NASA and the American Meteor Society commend thatyou do not lie down on your back . While that ’s comfortable and how stargazers are generally portrayed in movies , it ’s not the direction that you ’ll have the best viewing experience .
" Unfortunately the pillar of atmosphere directly above you is the thinnest slice of atmosphere , " Robert Lunsford wrote at theAmerican Meteor Societyblog , " therefore producing the least identification number of shooting star . You are better off center your field of view at just about one - one-half the fashion up in the sky , high enough to avoid anything that may blockade your view . "
So , a lawn chair might be deserving packing up as well .
2009 Perseid meteor shower|Flickr | David Kingham
If you ’re really lazy ( and we lie with thatmight actually mean you ’re super well-informed ) you may tune up in on-line throughthe Slooh live stream , which is generally a reliable and piquant stream for astronomical events . But you should seriously get out of the planetary house , even if it ’s the midsection of the dark . A shooting star shower like this does n’t add up around all that often .
to boot , the other great meteor shower bath of the class , the Geminids , wo n’t be great viewing this year . " With December ’s Geminids mollycoddle by a full moon , these Perseids will be the best shower of 2016 , " said Bob Berman , master of ceremonies of the Slooh programme . " lend to that the juicy peril of its parent comet , Swift - Tuttle , the most hazardous physical object in the known universe , and you have all the constituent for a 4 - star spectacle . "
Do n’t miss out on this .
