Fireballs and shooting stars: Why Perseid meteor shower is so spectacular
If you're going to wake up at 4 a.m. to watch the Perseids meteor shower, you should at least know what you're looking at.
If you're going to wake up at 4 a.m. to watch the Perseids meteor shower, you should at least know what you're looking at.
The Perseid meteor shower happens every August, but this year is special: the coincidence of the annual meteor shower with a new moon this week means the shooting stars will stand out against a particularly dark backdrop. But what is a meteor shower to begin with?
First of all, the shooting stars we see streak across the sky are not really stars 鈥� they are meteoroids. The light that is visible to the eye is the trail of hot air left by a space rock falling toward Earth,聽according to NASA.
鈥淎 meteor is a space rock 鈥� or meteoroid 鈥� that enters Earth's atmosphere,鈥� NASA says. 鈥淎s the space rock falls toward Earth, the resistance 鈥� or drag 鈥� of the air on the rock makes it extremely hot. What we see is a 鈥榮hooting star.鈥� That bright streak is not actually the rock, but rather the glowing hot air as the hot rock zips through the atmosphere.鈥�
The meteors themselves are formed from particles left behind by asteroids and comets, and they enter our atmosphere when the earth passes through a trail of debris. The Perseids 鈥� named for the constellation Perseus, near which the meteors appear 鈥� come from the comet known as Swift-Tuttle. 海角大神聽writes,
According to NASA, the ideal day and time to watch this year鈥檚 Perseids meteor shower will be early Thursday morning at around 4 a.m. Eastern time. At that time, up to 100 meteors will be visible per hour.