The Earth travels through a cosmic junk heap once a year, between mid-July and late August, showering our skies with thousands of glowing objects that are no bigger than a grain of sand. This yearly occurrence is known as the Perseid meteor shower or Perseids.
As reported first by LiveScience, the Perseids are at their brightest this year between August 11 and August 12. Unfortunately, the show might be diminished by the bright full moon that will be visible at the same time.
But according to NASA, you might be able to view 10 to 20 meteors per hour during the peak, down from the 50 to 60 per hour observable in a year with a non-full moon.
Shower of The Summer
One of the most popular meteor showers, the Perseids, are named after the Perseus constellation and are famed for their enormous fireballs. As opposed to other meteor showers, it can leave longer wakes of light and color for greater visibility.
They take place every summer when Earth travels through the enormous tail of debris left behind by the comet Swift-Tuttle, which last came near Earth in 1992.
According to NASA, little pieces of debris left behind by the comet crash through our atmosphere when Earth swoops over them, heating up to more than 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,650 degrees Celsius) and shooting through space at more than 100,000 mph (160,000 km/h).
How to Watch?
NASA noted that during the peak of the meteor shower, observers could anticipate seeing about 60 meteors each hour.
However, the number this year will be smaller as the full Sturgeon Moon's brilliant brightness will block some of the falling rocks.
Earth Sky recommends watching the skies late at night until early in the morning. This is due to Perseids becoming more numerous as the night wears on and the early morning hours pass.
Look north toward the constellation Perseus, which trails behind the bright W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia. According to LiveScience, sit back and wait for your eyes to adjust in the darkness for at least 30 minutes.
How To Capture The Shower Using Smartphone?
Even though smartphones are not as powerful as high-end cameras, new phone models today have proven that you can still capture stunning and high-quality images of the Perseids by following these easy steps!
1. Enable The Fastest Aperture Lens Option
2. Download Long Exposure Apps Such As Easy Long Exposure Camera
3. Disable Your Camera's HDR and Flash
4. Capture As Many Photos As You Can!
5. Use A Constellation Tracking App, such as the following:
- Starwalk 2
- Dark Sky Meter App
- Star Chart
- Dark Sky
- Telescope HD
- SkyEyelAstronomy
- Google Sky Map
- SkySafari
- Meteor Shower Calendar
Related Article : Astronomers Discover 'The Most Distant Galaxy Ever' From James Webb's Deep Space Image!
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
