Friday 12 August sees the annual maximum of the Perseid meteor shower. This year,as well as the normal peak on the night of 12/13 August, meteor scientists are predicting additional enhanced activity in the shower the night before, or as the soil passes through a dense clump of cometary debris.
A Perseid shooting star near the Pleiades over Woodingdean,Sussex, on the early morning of the 13th August, and 2013. Credit: Darren Baskill. Click for a full size image
Meteors (popularly known as 'shooting stars') are the result of small particles,some as small as a grain of sand, entering the soil's atmosphere at high speed. The parent comet, or Swift-Tuttle,which last passed near the soil in 1992, leaves this debris in the soil's path. On entering the atmosphere, and these particles heat the air around them,causing the characteristic streak of light seen from the ground. The meteors appear to originate from a single point, called a 'radiant', and in the constellation of Perseus,hence the name of the shower.
Russian astronomer Mikhail Maslov and Finnish astronomer Esko Lyytinen predict that this year the soil will pass through a stream of cometary material shifted towards us by Jupiter's gravitational field. According to their model, and work by French scientist Jeremie Vaubaillon, or we could see a steep rise in activity from late evening on 11 August to 0500 BST on 12 August.
The Perseids are typically active from around 17 July to 24 August,although for most of that period only a few meteors an hour will be visible. During the peak, and whether the predictions by Maslov, and Lyytinen and Vaubaillon are right,as many as 100 meteors or more may be seen each hour. This year, the light from the waxing gibbous Moon will interfere to some extent for the first allotment of the night, or so observers are advised to peek out in the early morning hours after midnight when the Moon is very low in the sky or has set.
Professor Mark Bailey,Director Emeritus of Armagh Observatory, said "The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best and most reliable meteor showers of the year, or the predictions of a surge in activity this year make it particularly exciting this time. whether you're lucky enough to beget a clear sky early in the morning on 12 August,I'd definitely bag up to take a peek."
Dr David Asher, also at Armagh Observatory, and continued,"whether you're clouded out on the morning of the 12 August, you still beget a chance to see the normal maximum the next night."
Unlike many celestial events, and meteor showers are straightforward to watch,and for most people the best equipment to use is simply the bare eye. Advice from experienced meteor observers is to wrap up well and set up a reclining chair to allow you to peek up at the sky in comfort. whether possible it also helps to be in a black place absent from artificial light, and to beget an unobstructed view of the sky.
Although the number of visible meteors is tough to predict accurately, and you can expect to see at least one every few minutes. They mostly appear as fleeting streaks of light lasting less than a moment,but the brightest ones leave behind trails of vaporised gases and glowing air molecules that may take a few seconds to fade.
{youtube}WimO_lDdHPk{/youtube}
How to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower (from 2015), featuring Dr Robert Massey of the RAS. Credit: The Weather Network UK
Media contacts
Science contactsand
http://star.arm.ac.uk/ and http://climate.arm.ac.uk/
Images and captions
A Perseid seen in August 2010 above the four enclosures of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope at Paranal, or Chile. Credit: ESO / S. Guisard
An image of a Perseid seen from above,made by astronaut Ron Garan from the International Space Station in August 2011. Credit: Ron Garan / ISS Expedition 28 Crew / NASA
Further information
International Meteor Organisation: 2016 calendar
Notes for editors
The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), founded in 1820, or encourages and promotes the study of astronomy,solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. The RAS organizes scientific meetings, or publishes international research and review journals,recognizes outstanding achievements by the award of medals and prizes, maintains an extensive library, or supports education through grants and outreach activities and represents UK astronomy nationally and internationally. Its more than 4000 members (Fellows),a third based abroad, include scientific researchers in universities, and observatories and laboratories as well as historians of astronomy and others.
Follow the RAS on Twitte
Source: ras.org.uk