Perseid Meteor Shower: “Meteor-ocre” Display for 2017
August 2017 :
Note: This article may contain outdated information
This article was published in the August 2017 issue of The Skyscraper and likely contains some information that was pertinent only for that month. It is being provided here for historical reference only.
While the premiere event during August is the Great American Total Solar Eclipse on August 21, we shouldn’t neglect the most widely observed meteor shower of the year. I’m talking about the Perseids. Under favorable observing conditions 60-120 shooting stars can be observed.
Unfortunately this year a bright waning gibbous Moon will rise around 10:41 p.m. EDT, and it will be less than 50 degrees from the shower’s radiant point in Perseus in the constellation of Pisces. It will be in the sky during the entire nighttime hours, so it will blot out all but the brightest meteors.
Normally 60+ Perseids can be observed per hour, but with bright interference from the Moon I suspect perhaps half that number will be visible. Fortunately this shower produces a few brilliant meteors called fireballs that blaze across the sky. The Persieds are also a colorful display, producing shooting stars that are usually green, red or orange.
Usually the best time to observe the Perseids is after midnight, but with the bright Moon you can start as soon as it gets dark on the evening of the 12th. To locate the radiant point in Perseus first find a pattern of stars in the northeast sky that looks like a sideways “M” or “W” (that’s Cassiopeia), Perseus is below it so you’re looking in the correct direction.
The Perseids are about the size of a thumb nail as they plunge into our atmosphere at 134,222 miles per hour (37 miles per second) and disintegrate.
Good luck and keep your eyes to the skies.
