Look up: a remarkable Perseid meteor shower is coming
Nature鈥檚 summer fireworks will be even more exciting this year 鈥� the annual Perseid meteor shower that arrives during the second week of August will be experiencing what astronomers call an 鈥渙utburst鈥� this year. This means that stargazers can expect to see more than double the usual number of meteors streaking through the sky on the peak nights of August 11 and 12.
鈥淯nder perfect conditions, rates could soar to ,鈥� said Bill Cooke, of NASA鈥檚 Meteoroid Environments Office in Huntsville, Ala. The last time the shower was in an 鈥渙utburst鈥� mode was 2009, according to NASA.
The Perseid shower may look like a pack of tiny comets crossing the night sky, but in actuality they are the result of the Earth crossing a trail of comet dust. The Swift-Tuttle comet orbits the sun every 133 years: as it does, it leaves a path of debris behind it, which we run up against annually.
When the Earth brushes up against this trail, the debris that hits our atmosphere聽disintegrates, causing the flashes of light visible from Earth.聽These pieces of comet dust entering the atmosphere are called聽meteors. They can聽be聽, according to Space.com, but they are traveling at speeds of 132,000 miles per hour.
鈥淭he meteors you鈥檒l see this year are from comet flybys that occurred hundreds if not thousands of years ago,鈥� said Dr. Cooke. 鈥淎nd they鈥檝e traveled billions of miles before their kamikaze run into Earth鈥檚 atmosphere.鈥�
Normally the Earth鈥檚 atmosphere hits the edge of the debris stream as our planet make its path around the sun. This year, however, the reams of Swift-Tuttle聽dust trails will be pulled closer by Jupiter鈥檚 gravity, and the Earth will hit at a more central and dense point in the comet dust trail.
For sky-gazing Earthlings hoping to see the resulting 鈥渙utburst,鈥� the best time to view is between midnight and dawn on August 12. Although the Perseids technically span several weeks, astronomers are recommending this date and August 13 for prime viewing. To avoid interfering moonshine on the night of August 11, astronomers recommend waiting until after the moon sets at 1 a.m. local time, early in the morning of August 12. The sky show can be viewed in the Northern Hemisphere down to the mid-southern latitudes.
NASA is preparing for the shower in several ways, such as聽the peak hours for those with light-polluted, smoggy, or overcast skies. And while the meteors won't affect those of us on the Earth's surface (the meteors burn up about 50 miles above Earth), NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office has been working to make sure that this year鈥檚 profusion of comets does not interfere with US satellites and spacecraft, or with the International Space Station.
