Skygazers, meteor catchers, and astronomy enthusiasts have a great opportunity ahead of them. People who are planning to see the Perseid meteor shower in the north this week will be able to witness the beauty of several bright planets and the moons on the south side of the sky.
According to Space.com, the Perseids meteor shower would be at its peak in the early morning hours of August 12, Friday. Earlier NASA had confirmed that this year's Perseid meteor shower would be one of the best. This is because of the giant gaseous planet, Jupiter, had bent the stream of comets. As a result, a lot of comets had entered Earth's path.
It is estimated that a stream of up to 200 meteors per hour would fly past Earth between August 11, Thursday night and early hours of Friday. However, some of them would fade away until the moon sets itself, which will happen around 1 a.m. local time.
Despite the presence of the moon, people would be able to see two bright planets on the southern side quite easily. The two planets - Mars and Saturn - would be visible in constellation Scorpius. While Saturn can be seen floating above Antares, Mars can be spotted just to the right of the star.
Antares is a star in the constellation Scorpius, a name that translates to "rival of Mars." The names have been kept so because its brightness, shade and overall appearance is quite similar to that of Mars.
Just before the Perseid meteor shower, sky gazers will be able to see Mercury, Venus and Jupiter line up 45 minutes after the sunset. According to NASA's Jane Houston Jones at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the three planets can be seen low on the horizon in a southwest direction.
Venus can be observed on the lower side in constellation Leo, while Jupiter will shine brightly as always in the constellation Virgo. Just on its lower side, people could see Mercury. For best clarity and vision, people should approach a clear horizon with no trees or houses around and catch a glimpse of these three planets.
