Tonight the amazing Perseids: shooting stars will light up the sky

the epididymalThe most spectacular annual shower of “meteor stars” is expected to reach its peak tonight (Saturday, August 12), presenting a unique spectacle in the sky.

this year The Perseids show is perfectSince this phenomenon will occur only four days before the crescent moon, so the dim moonlight will not prevent us from seeing the falling stars.

“The meteor shower is one of the most impressive meteor showers of the year, as it can have a frequency of up to 100 meteors per hour, when observing from a dark place,” notes an astrophysicist at Thesion Visitor Center at the National Observatory in Athens. And Fiore – Anastasia Metalino.

She explained that no special equipment is needed to observe the phenomenon: “Choose a dark place away from city lights and look at the night sky on the night of August 12.”

Stars or meteors are the result of small particles entering the Earth’s atmosphere at a high speed, usually around 60 kilometers per second. Pieces of debris are heated by friction with the air and are usually destroyed in less than a second at an altitude of more than 80 km. The superheated air around the meteorite glows briefly and can be seen from Earth as a bright line known as a “fiery star”.

Up to six separate meteors can be seen every hour throughout the year. However, during a shower, the Earth passes through a cloud of debris left by comets, so many meteorites have been observed entering the atmosphere. During the year we observe many meteor showers, which derive their names from the constellation from which they seem to originate. The Perseids are one of the most amazing meteor showers of the year.

Perseids are derived from their remains Comet Swift-Tuttle. This particular meteorite got its name from the point in the sky where the meteors seem to come from, located in the constellation Perseus. This phenomenon occurs every year at the same time, but the rate of precipitation can vary greatly from year to year.

The maximum of the phenomenon will be observed this year tonight and into tomorrow morning, when the fire stars will appear with greater frequency, although the Perseids in total last from July 17 to August 24.

This phenomenon can be seen better from the northern hemisphere and without clouds, and since the peak this year occurs only four days before the new moon, when the moonlight is only 8%, it is expected that watching the phenomenon will be amazing.

The best Dionysis SimopoulosHonorary Director of the Planetarium of the Eugenide Foundation, wrote last year, a few days before his death, in his article on the rain of the Perseids, on the Foundation’s website:

“From the countryside you spend your summer holidays, every August, don’t forget to look up at the starry sky, after spending the night out or lying on the beach or on a comfortable deck chair in your garden, the sky will reward you with a wonderful spectacle of its bright stars and glimpses of dozens of stars that You will cross it from one end to the other.Although modern knowledge does not allow us to do so, but when you see the bright line left by a “meteor”, do not forget to follow the opinion expressed by our people, and make a wish! After all, you have nothing to lose! “

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