The annual Perseid Meteor Shower to be at its peak tonight i.e., 12th and 13th August after sunset
Perseid Meteor Shower:
The Perseid Meteor shower, which is an annual celestial event has made a comeback from 11th August 2021 i.e., Wednesday to 13th August 2021, Friday night. As per the reports, the American space agency NASA’s meteor-tracking cameras first spotted the Perseids meteor on 26th July, and a prediction was made that the meteor shower will be at its peak before the 12th August dawn.
🌠 The #Perseids are about to make their return to our night sky. The shower peaks this year on 12/13 August, so look up after sunset (weather permitting). More info:
— ESA (@esa) August 5, 2021
👉https://t.co/KK4xkorosu
👉https://t.co/DuXRvA0w6q
👉 https://t.co/M1JxO7bPbo
(pic: @SkyandTelescope) pic.twitter.com/vtMtwUiMHi
The Perseid meteor shower is expected to be one of the biggest meteor showers of the year, while the waxing crescent Moon goes down around 10 PM local time, making it an event of dark, moonless skies until the morning, thereby making the favorable conditions for this meteor shower.
While the best glimpse of the meteors can be caught after the evening twilight time in the northern hemisphere and at the mid-southern latitudes, as stated by earthsky.org.
What is a Perseid meteor shower?
Meteors are tiny, sand grain- to pea-size ranging bits of debris that strikes the Earth’s atmosphere surface around 130 km up. The debris gets deposited at the tail of the comet Swift Tuttle.
Earth every year passes through this region from 17th July to 24th August. While during this period, the Earth passes through the densest part of the weak “river of rubble” (usually around 12th August) that sets off the peak of a meteor shower.
While these Perseids appear as tiny streaks, however, some brighter Perseids sail across the sky and even leave a trail of glowing smoke behind, say the experts.
While as per the EarthSky, up to 60 meteors per hour can be visible during the peak of the Perseid meteor shower today.
