NEWS —
The Perseid meteor shower, one of the brightest and best displays of shooting stars all year, is in the forecast for next week, according to NASA.
The meteor shower peaks annually in August, when earth travels through debris left by the 1992 Comet, Swift-Tuttle. There are an estimated 100 meteors visible per-hour during its peak, according to the American space agency.
“The meteor shower is a really fun and interesting event for anybody, it’s accessible to anybody, anybody can watch it, and it is something that happens every year around this same time of the year,” Jennifer West, an astrophysist for the National Research Council of Canada, told CTVNews.ca.
“It is a time of year where we can see a lot of these bright streaks through the sky – sometimes people call them shooting starts, but they’re not stars at all – and it’s just a really interesting event that anybody can watch.”
The shower is expected to begin on the night of Aug. 11 and peak on Aug. 12. The shooting stars can be seen in the days leading up to, and following, the peak.
What makes this meteor shower so special?
Named after the constellation Perseus, the Perseid shower’s meteors come from the direction of the Northern Hemisphere.
West said that meteors are small pieces of debris in space that enter our atmosphere as the Earth passes by them. Surprisingly, those flecks of debris are typically between the size of a speck of dust and a pea.
“When the earth is travelling around the sun, it’s moving through its orbit and passes this rock [that] enters our atmosphere, and it heats up the sky, heats up the atmosphere, and leaves behind a trail of light, and that’s what we see and that’s what we call a meteor. So it’s a piece of dust or ice that heats up the gas in our sky, and that causes a streak of light,” she said.
How to get the best view?
Meteor showers can be seen anywhere that the sky is visible. It’s best to watch a meteor shower, or any solar storm, in complete darkness. While the moon will be in its First Quarter at the time of the shower, with 50 per cent of its surface illuminated, the best time to watch will be during the late in the night.
West said that the darker it is, the easier it is to see the fainter meteors. In addition, she highlighted the importance of clear skies when viewing the shower.
“First of all, you want to go somewhere where it’s clear, so check the weather and see if you can find some clear skies somewhere,” she said. “Secondly, you want to go somewhere dark – so if you’re in the city, it’s good to try and get out of the city – the darker [it is], you can see the faint meteors, but if it’s bring then you’ll only be able to see the very bright ones. And thirdly, the moon will be up this year, and so it’s good if you can wait until the moon sets, and it’s going to set around midnight, so if you go out after midnight, that will be your best chance at seeing some meteors.”
Additionally, the shower’s meteors appear to come from a northern direction, it is best seen in the Northern Hemisphere. However, you can view the falling stars anywhere within its “radiant,” or where they appear to originate from, which, in this case, would be the Perseus star constellation.
The Perseus constellation is near a brighter and easier to find star formation called Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia is in the first quadrant of the Northern Hemisphere, at latitudes +90 and -20, near the Andromeda, Camelopardalis, Cepheus, Lacerta and, of course, Perseus constellations.
Other showers to look ahead to
There are dozens of meteor showers per year, with most peaking in the summertime.
Late last month, the Delta Aquariids meteor shower began and will span into the end of August. This shower is most visible around 2 a.m., and can reach 15 to 20 meteors in the sky under ideal conditions.
Come fall, the Draconids meteor shower will begin, peaking on Oct. 8, 2024. Remnants of the shower will be visible in the days leading up to, and following, its peak. There’s a chance viewers may witness up to 10 meteors per hour, with most flying in the evening hours rather than morning.
Also in October is the Orionids meteor shower. The Orionid meteors are expected to fall on Oct. 20 and 21, after midnight and into in the morning hours. While its peak is expected for October, Orionid meteors are expected to fall until Nov. 22.
The South Taurids meteor shower is expected to fall in November, with its peak date estimated at Nov. 5. This shower is expected to be slow moving and incredibly bright.
Later in November, the Leonids meteor shower is expected on Nov. 18. It has a duration of falling between Nov. 3 to Dec. 2, 2024, however a full moon will likely hide some of its stars.
There are two storms in December, the Geminids and the Ursids. The Geminids will peak on Dec. 13, with up to 120 meteors falling per-hour.
The Ursids, the last meteor shower of the year, is expected to peak in the early morning of Dec. 22. It may be hidden by thef moon, which will 54 per cent full on that night
