Tag: Debris

Perseid meteor shower

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The Perseid meteor shower is due tonight. According to the Royal Museums Greenwich, it is visible between 17 July and 24 August 2023.

How to see the Perseid meteor shower

What is the Perseid meteor shower, when does it happen and how can I see it in 2023?

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The Perseid meteor shower is one of the most dramatic things to see in the night sky between July and August.

In 2023 the Perseid meteor shower is active between 17 July and 24 August. The shower will peak 12-13 August.

I went to:

http://rmg.co.uk

to find out this information.

Meteor showers are caused by dust and debris from old comets or broken up asteroids, or other rocks or metallic pieces that are within earth’s orbit.

A comet might leave dust as it passes through the solar system. As the Earth orbits the Sun it can pass through the cloud of dust from a comet and burn up in our atmosphere, the burning pieces are what we see as shooting stars or meteors. If one falls to Earth it is classed as a meteorite.

Meteorites come in two types, carbonaceous (with carbon compounds) and metallic (with metals such as iron inside them). If you find one that has landed it can be worth a great deal of money.

Finally the meteor shower is named after the area or constellation in the sky they apparently come from. So the Perseid shower appears to emanate from the constellation Perseus. Others include the Orionids, Geminids, and other star groups. They happen throughout the year and astronomers can predict when they are due although not always the strength of the shower or storm. Tonight’s shower may have up to 100 shooting stars an hour. They usually start after local midnight… Good luck if you try to see them, I wish you clear skies.

The Orionids

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Coming up on 22nd October 2019 is the Orionid meteor shower. There have already been a few fireballs from the shower and they are due to peak at dawn on the 22nd so it might be worth setting an alarm.

Where do they come from? They are dusty remnants of the comet Halley. They are the dust cloud that came off the comet as it travelled through the solar system. Halley returns on a regular basis. It was identified as a recurring comet by the astronomer Edmund Halley when he realised it was the same comet that had been seen in the sky around the time of the battle of Hastings and then approximately every 100 years or so afterwards.

The meteors (or meteorites if they land) appear to radiate from the area around the star Orion which is why they are called the Orionids. There are other showers of meteors throughout the year. These include the Persids and the Geminids. Some showers are brighter than others. It depends on the debris cloud that the Earth moves through. The dust and debris for showers are in patches of space that the Earth moves through, hence their yearly appearance.

The Orionids apparently move faster than a lot of other meteors so they can create more of a show. The speed increases the friction and they burn up in the atmosphere faster.

You can find out more at a website called Spaceweather.com