If during the month of July we have been able to enjoy a beautiful supermoon and two fantastic meteor showers in the same night, the month of August holds similar astronomical fortune . However, on this occasion, the next supermoon, which will take place on August 10, will coincide with the classic Perseid meteor shower.
The Perseid meteor shower, the best known of all of them, will have its days of greatest visibility from August 11 to 13 , so when it coincides with the apogee of the largest and brightest full moon of the year, it is likely that it will remain a little lackluster. The usual thing in the Perseids is to be able to see about 100 meteors per hour but these meteors will have to compete with a full Moon that is 14% larger and 30% brighter .
The Perseid meteors will come from Comet Swift Tuttle , which every 133 years completes a journey through the inner solar system, leaving behind a trail of dust and sand. As Earth passes through the debris zone, comet particles hit the atmosphere, then disintegrating, leaving the bright flashes of light that we enjoy in the sky.
“ This is bad news for the Perseids . The lunar glow erases the velvety black backdrop required to view faint meteors, and dramatically reduces trails. However, the Perseids are rich in fireballs brighter than Jupiter or Venus. These will be visible despite the full moon, "says Bill Cooke of NASA's Office of the Environment on Meteorites.
Image credit: JURAJ TÓTH / WIKIMEDIA
