If you want to see a wonderful sight in the sky, save the date! The Perseid meteor shower event is going to be between August 12 and 13 at around 10:30 p.m to 4:30 a.m. No need to worry should it be starting slowly because it will gain steam halfway.
Perseids are an abundant meteor shower connected with the comet Swift-Tuttle. It is termed Perseids because the point where they come from, called the “radiant”, is in the constellation “Perseus”.
Bill Cooke, head of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, recently declared the Perseids as the fireball champion of annual meteor showers.
"We have found that one meteor shower produces more fireballs than any other," Cooke said in NASA Science News.
Fireballs are particularly bright meteors that glow at least as brightly as Jupiter or Venus in the night sky.
Since 2008, with the use of a network of meteor cameras scattered across the U.S., Cooke and his team were able to track fireball activities. In a chart released by NASA, it shows that on average, Perseid meteors are the brightest followed by the Geminis meteors.
During August of every year, the Earth passes through a stream of debris and dust in the wake of Comet Swift-Tuttle, thus, signaling the appearance of the Perseid meteor shower. These stray bits of comet dust crash into our atmosphere at 132,000 mph burning up and creating light streaks in the sky.
Cooke remarks that Swift-Tuttle has an enormous nucleus of about 16 miles across, which is unusual because most comets have nuclei less than 2 miles across. The nucleus of Swift-Tuttle possibly led to a large debris stream, taking responsibility for the especially nice annual meteor show.
So try looking for a nice dim spot in the highlands or high parts of the city during those dates and times and witness a spectacular view from the sky courtesy of the Brightest Perseid meteors.
For you to have an idea how this annual meteor shower looks like, watch this video.
