It costs a bit to think about it, but while you are reading this article, from your mobile or computer, you are flying at more than one hundred thousand kilometers per hour through space. Yes, it is the Earth that moves around the Sun at that speed, but taking this detail into account, it is easier to understand why every year, around this time, we enjoy the Perseid meteor shower.
Planets are not the only celestial objects that orbit the Sun. Comets and asteroids do too. They are truly responsible for what we know as Meteor Showers. They are called shooting stars, but of stars they have little.
What happens from mid-July to late August is that the Earth, on its annual trip around the Sun, is traversing the orbit of a comet: Comet Swift-Tuttle. Comets live far from the Sun, in a very cold, icy area. And they are something of a dirty snowball.
When that snowball approaches the Sun, it causes the comet to sublime water ice, which results in large geysers on the surface of the comet, which form its famous tail. As a result of these ejections of material, the comet leaves behind a trail of small dust particles.
When the Earth passes through the orbit of the comet, the particles enter the atmosphere at very high speed. There is then an intense friction and the tiny grains of rock disintegrate emitting the flashes of light that we call shooting stars.
How to see the Perseid Meteor Shower
In principle, the night of the maximum activity of the Perseids, it is expected to see 100 shooting stars per hour . That means that if we fix our eyes on a point in the sky, we can make 2 wishes every 10 minutes. A good place to stare at the sky is the W that forms the constellation Cassiopeia. Just below it is Perseus, the constellation that gives its name to this meteor shower.
You will only have to find a place away from light pollution, fix your eyes on a point in the sky for at least 10 minutes and arm yourself with patience to enjoy the most anticipated rain of stars of the summer.
But if the clouds are not on our side or you want to learn more about the Perseids, you can follow the broadcast that the sky-live.tv channel will carry out from the Canary Observatories (on La Palma and Tenerife), under one of the most pristine skies of the world.
Precisely, this direct is included in the outreach activities of the EELabs project, which ensures the protection of natural darkness in the natural areas of Macaronesia. Among other things, being able to continue enjoying these sky shows.
