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TellUs: Perseids Meteor Shower, 2019. What, Why, When & Tips!

Perseids Meteor Shower

You’ve probably seen headlines all of the news about these ‘amazing Perseids meteor showers’ recently… but what even is it? This blog is to combine my research, mostly from NASA and The Royal Museum of Greenwich to produce the 411 on all you need to know about the Perseids meteor shower. So sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy this quick fire (pun intended) meteor blog!

Image of the Meteor Shower from KTSM.com

What causes the Perseids Meteor Shower?

The Perseid, pronounced Per-see-id, meteor shower is a must for keen astronomers, beginners and those simply wanting to join the hype - and I don’t blame them! This is because this particular meteor shower is known for its high hourly rates and good visibility. 

Now onto what actually causes these meteorites… They’re caused by debris left behind from the Comet Swift-Tuttle, every July and August of every year. When the Comet gets too close to the Sun, the Comet heats up and breaks off. If the Debris ends up in the Earth’s path around the Sun it can end up crashing into the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 7-45 miles per second. This is quite a difference and the speed of the debris will depend on the speed the Earth is moving and the type/speed of the debris also (plus other factors). As the air in front of the meteor squashes, it heats to thousands of degrees celsius. Therefore the smaller meteorites vaporise, creating the trail of light visual. Large meteorites can explode as fireballs! Pretty cool!

The Royal Museum of Greenwich state that “the average speed of the Perseid meteor is 36 miles per second” with NASA declaring that at the meteor showers peak we can expect “60 meteors per hour”.

Why is it called this?

The origin of the name is interesting and you maybe wondering why the meteor shower is named Perseid? So lets break it down! Meteors associated with a meteor shower have similar orbits. These orbits appear to come from the same place in the sky. This is called the radiant. Meteor showers take the name of their radiant (where they come from in the sky). It just so happens that the positioning of the Perseid radiant in the sky comes from within the Perseus constellation.

When does this occur in 2019?

The Perseids meteor shower seems to have slightly different start/end dates depending on the website, however it seems to approximately occur from the 23rd July to 20th August. However what is agreed is that the peak time to spot the meteorites is between the 12th-13th August. After this date, the meteorites start to tail off.

Tips on viewing the shower

NASA recommend that 2am until dawn is the best time to view the meteorites, however if this isn’t doable for you then anytime after 9pm (when the Sun has set) will suffice. The Royal Museum of Greenwich agree more or less with this and ideally recommend viewing them between 12am-5:30am.

For the best view, a field away from light pollution is your best bet. Make sure you have a good range of vision, so you aren’t in amongst many trees and also allow yourself 20-30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark. To aid this, limit the time you spend on your phone. If the moon is below the horizon or in the crescent phase then this is ideal, as a full moon acts as a natural light pollutant. 

Anyone can view this amazing event, so it’s great for beginners however unfortunately weather takes its toll on visibility levels. Also to note, in the UK the radiant of the Perseids is always above the horizon, so as soon as the sun sets get checking for meteorites! 

Fun fact!

Perseus was the hero in Greek Mythology who beheaded Medusa. He later was said to have married Andromeda. They had nine children together and the word ‘Perseids’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Perseides’, which refers to Perseus’ descendants!

I hope you enjoyed this blog and found it informative as well as interesting! My research came mostly from NASA and The Royal Museum of Greenwich, so if you’re interested in this topic and want to read more then head on over there. See you in the next one and subscribe to be notified when I upload every other day! 

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Check out my previous blog: https://www.tellusabouttheenvironment.com/2019/08/tellus-world-elephant-day.html
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