August is jam-packed with exciting astronomical events that will keep sky-gazers glued to their telescopes for the whole month. There will be a meteor shower, a blue moon, and a Jupiter and Saturn show this month.
Since July 26, NASA’s meteor-tracking cameras have been spotting the first meteors from the Perseids meteor shower, which is expected to peak by mid-August.
From the 11th to the 12th of August, space fans will be able to see them.
Northern Hemisphere citizens will be able to see over 40 Perseids every hour. Perseids will be less visible in the Southern Hemisphere. The Perseids will appear as short, narrow light streaks.
According to NASA, as a comet approaches the Sun, some of its frozen surface “boils off,” releasing a large amount of debris, water, and gas into space. Every year, as Earth completes its revolution around the Sun, it explodes with this debris.
These meteoroids, or space rocks, are far smaller than asteroids and collide with the Earth’s atmosphere, shattering in a fiery show known as a shooting star.
A meteor shower occurs when a large number of meteoroids collide with Earth at the same time. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Perseids are best seen in the hours shortly before dawn.
However, they can be spotted as early as 10 p.m. On the evenings of August 11-13, NASA advises staying up late or waking up between pre-dawn hours. Because of increased artificial light pollution, meteors will be less visible within city borders.
As a result, a safe location on the outskirts with little to no pollution and few to no buildings to block the view is perfect. A meteor shower can be observed without the need for telescopes or binoculars.
Simply lie down on your back for about thirty minutes to allow your eyes to adjust to the darkness before watching the fireworks!
Perseids appear at night during the summer solstice when clear skies allow better viewing. They’re also one of the most ‘ample showers,’ with 50 to 100 meteors seen per hour, increasing the chances of sky-gazers spotting them during a meteor-watching night.
Another reason the Perseids are brighter than other meteors is because of their fireballs. These are exceptionally bright meteors that can be seen over a large area. These meteors are huge explosions that emit light and color that come from “cometary material.”
If you cannot watch the meteor shower in real life, you can catch it online as several websites will telecast this spectacular shower live. NASA’s YouTube channel is one such place to catch a live stream of the Perseids meteor shower.
