The Perseids are the most important meteor shower of the summer. Who has not ever raised their heads to look at the sky and see the so-called Tears of San Lorenzo? The dates to witness this astronomical spectacle are approaching and this will be a good year to observe them.
The Perseids seem to come from the constellation Perseus. They are produced by the trail of gases, dust and debris thrown into space by the Swift-Tuttle comet, discovered in 1862.
Every year in August, planet Earth crosses the orbit of the comet, which has a period of 133 years and last passed close to the Sun in 1992. This orbit is full of small particles released by the comet in previous steps. When one of these particles, which once formed the comet’s tail, enters the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, friction heats it up until it vaporizes it at a great height, thus generating what is popularly known as a shooting star.
The perseids usually begin to be seen around July 17 and their flashes can be seen until August 24. If we stick to 2023, the maximum activity of the rain will take place on Saturday, August 12, coinciding with the waning moon (the new moon will be on the 16th), says the director of the National Astronomical Observatory (National Geographic Institute), Rafael Bachiller, in his article in EL MUNDO about the main astronomical phenomena of this summer.
The Tears of San Lorenzo are visible from all over the northern hemisphere in the height of summer. The speeds of these meteors can exceed 50 kilometers per second and their activity rate can reach 200 meteors per hour.
Bachiller also points out that the observing conditions are much less favorable for the Delta Aquarids, which have their maximum on July 30, very close to the full moon on August 1. This meteor shower visits us every year between July 12 and August 23
To see the Perseid meteor shower, you do not need any optical instruments such as telescopes or binoculars. It is advisable, of course, to move to a dark place and where there are few obstacles such as buildings, trees or mountains. For a more complete and comfortable observation, it is recommended to look at the sky lying down, looking in the opposite direction to the position of the Moon.
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