Aug 12 2009
Take a midnight Perseid Meteor Shower
By Heath Raftery
It’s that time of year again! Every August our Earth hurtles through the debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle.
Fortunately for us, the Earth has a thick atmosphere (about 100kms of it) that not only shields us from space debris, but can do so in a spectacular fashion called a “meteor shower” by vaporising the space rocks in brilliant streaks of light.
This year the show is predicted to peak on the night of Wednesday, 12th August.
Yes: that’s tonight.
The Perseid Meteor Shower, as it’s known, is named after the Perseus constellation, since the shower appears to originate from here. In fact, the shower is at least a trillion (1 followed by 12 zeros) times closer to us than the stars of Perseus!
Perseus constallation. Image: International Astronomical Union (IAU)
While us Southern Hemispherians don’t normally see much of Perseus in Winter, the shower will be visible all over the world.
Around 11pm to 1am would be a good time to cast your eyes skyward – and there’s no need for binoculars or telescopes for this show.
For the best chance of spotting some Swift-Tuttle debris, generally face East and look somewhere overhead. After spiralling through space all this time, the debris could wind up striking the Earth’s atmosphere just about anywhere – if we’re especially lucky a piece might just graze the atmosphere and form a rare earthgrazer!
Perseus the constellation and, here, Perseus the legendary Medusa killer! Isn't the resemblance uncanny?Image: wikipedia
The moon is actually our enemy for this astronomical event, so try to position yourself away from city light, but near a building or tree that can block the moonlight from your eyes – it might even be worthwhile picking a time before or after the moon gets too bright.
Get comfortable, listen to some music, grab a drink and you may be lucky to see more than 50 meteors a minute. It will, however, come in fits and starts and there’s bound to be periods where there’s nothing to see … but the stars of our universe.
There’s a wealth of astronomy-related events happening as part of National Science Week. See below for some tasters…
But first – let us know what tunes / symphony / album / individual song takes your fancy for stargazing at 10daysofscience@gmail.com.
Or ‘BLIP’ it to us, simply, here: http://blip.fm/10daysofscience. When you do, it will feed directly into our twitter stream, and also play to visitors who come by.
An "earthgrazer". Image: NASA
[...] 10daysofscience» Take a midnight Perseid Meteor ShowerThe Perseid Meteor Shower, as it’s known, is named after the Perseus constellation, since the shower appears to originate from here. In fact, the shower is at least a trillion (1 followed by 12 zeros) times closer to us than the stars …Read More [...]
[...] 10daysofscience» Take a midnight Perseid Meteor ShowerThe Perseid Meteor Shower, as it’s known, is named after the Perseus constellation, since the shower appears to originate from here. In fact, the shower is at least a trillion (1 followed by 12 zeros) times closer to us than the stars of Perseus! Perseus constallation. Image: International Astronomical Union (IAU). While us Southern Hemispherians don’t normally see much of Perseus in Winter, the shower will be visible all …. What’s the best song ever to star gaze to? …Read More [...]
Attractive component of content. I simply stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your weblog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing for your augment or even I fulfillment you get right of entry to constantly quickly.