Perseids: What you need to know about the meteor shower you admire on Thursday evening

Perseids are an unusual celestial combination. The best time to take advantage is between August 9th and 13th. But the most interesting shooting Star Night takes place from Thursday 12th August to Friday 13th August, where the highest number of meteorites appear. The meteorite is intense and stable and can deliver between 50 and 100 meteors per hour, according to NASA.

What is Perseid?

These showers of Perseids, the shooting stars, are actually the remains of a comet Swift-Tuttle with an orbit of 135 years around the Sun with a diameter of 26 km. These meteorites have an average rice grain size and burn at altitudes of between 59 km, ninety and one hundred kilometers per second, i.e. within Earth’s atmospheric limit.

The name “Perseids” comes from the fact that meteorites came from the constellation Perseus. They are also known as the “Tears of San Lorenzo” because the meteor always occurs after the first week of August, the 10th, the date of Saint-Laurent’s celebration. According to legend, he shed tears when the saint was killed in the 3rd century, when he burned the stars.

Why do they always appear at the same time?

Every year, between July 14 and August 24, the summer night sky is lit, especially August 12. Always at the same time. The Earth, in its orbit around the Sun, at this point crosses streams of debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle. The latter visit the sun once every 133 years, the area we last saw in 1992. During the millennium, dust from its ice surface under the action of the sun accumulated in streams that crossed the earth each year.

The absence of the moon guarantees beautiful observations

This year, the conditions are right for the maximum number of stars to be shot: the moon will not be there and eventually the weather will be declared smooth. The light of the moon does not interfere with the observation of dozens of meteorites penetrating the sky. If you go to a place far away from big cities and escape from light pollution, the display will be even more awesome.