The Perseids are one of the most regular and largest meteor showers. It is also known among people who do not have much in common with astronomy. We can observe the Perseids in the first half of August, when the nights in Poland are very warm and the weather is usually fine.
Perseids will be shown next week
We can actually observe meteors from the Perseid Squadron from July 17 to August 24, but the maximum often occurs at night from August 12 to 13. This will also be the case this year. Every year, up to 100 meteors per hour appear in the sky (about 8 meteors every 5 minutes), but in practice it may be impossible to find such a large number. After all, we must prepare for a very exciting show.
The Perseids are associated with the passing of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which, as it approaches the Sun, has left behind a plexus of smaller and larger rock fragments of dust and ice. When the Earth rushes along its orbit, falling in this path, it collides with particles (meteoroids), which burn up in the atmosphere, creating luminous paths called meteors.
Perseids. How do you monitor it and where do you look for it?
Persead Notes is a children’s game. To see the luminous streaks in the sky, we do not need any equipment – meteors in the Earth’s atmosphere are best observed with the naked eye. Some aids may come in handy for this, which makes waiting for the next meteors more fun.
Therefore, it is worth preparing a comfortable chair or a hammock and a place where we can easily observe the northeastern part of the sky (preferably in a lying position). This is where the Perseids should show up the most. Warm clothes or a blanket will also be useful, because the nights are not as warm as they were some time ago.
It’s also a good idea to turn off the lights in the garden or protect your place from strong light sources and put your phones away. Staring at a screen destroys our eyesight’s adaptation to darkness, and we may miss these less bright meteors.
It’s best to be patient, too. It’s not that after a few seconds of waiting in the sky, you’ll notice an entire meteor shower. Often they appear singly, at certain intervals from each other. There will be slightly fewer of them in the first half of the night, but the number of meteors should increase later after midnight or before dawn.
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