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Every year in August, when many people go on holiday in the country with dark skies, the most famous meteor shower appears: the Perseids.
This year, the Perseid meteor shower will peak late Sunday night into early Monday morning (August 11-12) when there is barely any moon, making the midnight sky beautiful and dark for shooting stargazers and counters. The first quarter moon sets around 11:20 p.m. local daylight time, leaving the sky beautifully dark after that. Some Perseids also appear in the evening, but the shower is always best from 11 p.m. or midnight until the early light of dawn.
Or to put it another way, expect to see more meteors at dawn, as the side of the Earth facing you rotates to face incoming meteors more directly at that time.
If you need more advice on how to photograph meteor showers like the Perseids, check out our guide to photographing meteors and meteor showers , and if you need imaging equipment, check out our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography .
Where to look
In the hours after midnight, the shower’s origin (the point that appears to be the starting point) will be between the constellation Perseus and Cassiopeia’s ‘B’, rising higher in the northeast. Meteors will therefore fall across the sky every minute or two (as seen by a single observer).
Well, if your sky is nice and dark, that’s a guess. But even if you live in moderate light pollution, as most of us unfortunately do, you can still catch at least the brightest Perseids. These are often described in astronomy journals as containing “many bright and fragmentary meteors” that leave behind persistent trains.
The Earth must pass through the thickest part of this layer “Old faithful” Centered around 14:00 UTC on August 12, which is 10 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on that date, most of the meteor showers are daytime across all of North America. So for meteor watchers here, the night before and perhaps even the night after could be just as good. Fortunately, the Perseids remain active at about a quarter of their peak strength, and one can be seen at almost any time during the few days before and a day or two after their peak, and throughout August.
A Perseid is a path that, when traced back across the sky, intersects a point between the constellations Perseus and Cassiopeia. Other “sporadic” meteors that travel in random directions occur every 5 or 10 minutes. Two much weaker showers are also active at this time of year, the Delta Aquarids and the Kappa Cygnids.
Sit back, relax and wait
You don’t need any experience to watch the Perseids. Just find a spot with a wide-open view of the sky and no late-night lights nearby. Dress warmly (even on summer nights, it can get chilly at times), lie down on a floor mat or sleeping bag, or better yet, lie down in a reclining lawn chair, and watch the stars. Also, cover any exposed parts of your body with mosquito repellent so you don’t get bitten.
Be patient and give your eyes enough time to adjust to the darkness. The direction to follow is not necessarily toward Perseus, but rather where your sky is darkest, probably directly above.
The Perseids are ionization trails created by small pieces of debris from comet 109/P Swift-Tuttle entering the Earth’s upper atmosphere at 37 miles (60 km) per second. The Perseids were particularly dramatic in the early to mid-1990s around the year of Swift-Tuttle’s most recent return (December 1992). But they have since returned to normal. The comet is not expected to return until August 2126.
Surprising events
But there can always be surprises.
On the morning of August 14, 2021, the Perseids showed an unexpected meteor burst between 06:00 and 09:00 UT (2 to 5 a.m. EDT). The cause of this burst is currently unknown, but is likely the result of an unknown filament of comet debris produced by Swift-Tuttle as it passed through the inner solar system centuries ago.
In an announcement Circular #5016 of the Central Bureau of Astronomical TelegraphsThe maximum zenithal hourly rate was estimated to be somewhere between 130 and 210, plus or minus 20. These are astonishing figures, considering that rates are normally 50% lower each night after the maximum, but these rates two or three times More than the expected maximum on the night of August 12-13, 2021.
Four years later Some meteorologists predict that Earth will interact with a thick knot or clump of meteoric material shed by the Swift-Tuttle comet in the 15th century, possibly resulting in a short-lived display of hundreds of meteors per hour. So a truly amazing Perseid display could be “really” amazing.
Overturning predictions
Sometimes, even in years considered favorable for Perseid viewing, skywatchers report seeing only half or a third as many meteors as expected—and others report seeing up to twice as many! It has been suggested that the stream of Perseid particles along its orbit around the Sun has a complex filamentary structure, with gaps and rich spots.
What makes the situation even more complicated is that some people’s eyes are better suited to studying meteors than others.
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Regardless of your local viewing conditions, the appearance of the Perseids each year gives many people a reason to get outside and look up at the night sky. Even if you only see a few “shooting stars,” all it takes is one exceptionally bright meteor to make the viewing experience worthwhile.
One final encouragement is to note that next year the moon will be in its waning gibbous phase just a few days after full, filling the sky with bright light, drowning out all but the brightest Perseid lines. So take advantage of the favorable conditions afforded to us this year.
We wish everyone good luck and clear skies!
Joe Rao is an instructor and guest lecturer at a university in New York. Hayden Planetarium.Writing about astronomy Natural History Journal, Farmer’s Calendar and other publications.