Perseids
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox meteor shower
The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle that are usually visible from mid-July to late-August. The meteors are called the Perseids because they appear from the general direction of the constellation Perseus and in more modern times have a radiant bordering on Cassiopeia and Camelopardalis.
EtymologyEdit
The name is derived from the word Perseids (Template:Langx), the sons of Perseus in Greek mythology.
CharacteristicsEdit
(Variant of the animation in real time)
The stream of debris is called the Perseid cloud and stretches along the orbit of the comet Swift–Tuttle. The cloud consists of particles ejected by the comet as it travels on its 133-year orbit.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Most of the particles have been part of the cloud for around a thousand years. However, there is also a relatively young filament of dust in the stream that was pulled off the comet in 1865, which can give an early mini-peak the day before the maximum shower.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The dimensions of the cloud in the vicinity of the Earth are estimated to be approximately 0.1 astronomical units (AU) across and 0.8 AU along the Earth's orbit, spread out by annual interactions with the Earth's gravity.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The shower is visible from mid-July each year, with the peak in activity between 9 and 14 August, depending on the particular location of the stream. During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour. They can be seen all across the sky; however, because of the shower's radiant in the constellation of Perseus, the Perseids are primarily visible in the Northern Hemisphere.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As with many meteor showers the visible rate is greatest in the pre-dawn hours, since more meteoroids are scooped up by the side of the Earth moving forward into the stream, corresponding to local times between midnight and noon, as can be seen in the accompanying diagram.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> While many meteors arrive between dawn and noon, they are usually not visible due to daylight. Some can also be seen before midnight, often grazing the Earth's atmosphere to produce long bright trails and sometimes fireballs. Most Perseids burn up in the atmosphere while at heights above Template:Convert.<ref name="Meteorwatch"/>
Peak timesEdit
| Year | Perseids active between | Peak of shower | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | July 14 – Sep 01 | August 13 08:00 UT<ref name="AMS2023B"/> (8% Waning Crescent Moon). Earth may have crossed the 69 BCE trail around August 14 02:00 UT.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> The New Moon is on Aug 16. | ||
| 2022 | July 17 – August 24 | August 12–13 (full moon on Aug 12) | ||
| 2021 | July 17 – August 24 | August 11–12 (ZHRmax 150)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| 2020 | July 16 – August 23<ref name=rmg>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
August 12–13 (ZHRmax 100) (full moon on Aug 3)<ref name=rmg/> | |
| 2019 | July 17 – August 24 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> (ZHRmax 80) (full moon on Aug 15) | |
| 2018 | July 17 – August 24 | August 11–13<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> (ZHRmax 60) | ||
| 2017 | July 17 – August 24 | August 12<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> | ||
| 2016 | July 17 – August 24 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> (ZHRmax 150) | |
| 2015 | July 17 – August 24 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> (ZHRmax 95) (new moon on Aug 14) | |
| 2014 | July 17 – August 24 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> (full moon on Aug 10) | |
| 2013 | July 17 – August 24 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| 2012 | July 17 – August 24 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| 2011 | July 17 – August 24 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> (full moon on Aug 13)<ref name="NASA2010-385">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |
CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
| 2010 | July 23 – August 24 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | |
| 2009 | July 14 – August 24 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> but a gibbous Moon washed out fainter meteors.) | |
| 2008 | July 25 – August 24<ref name="p2008">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
August 13 (ZHRmax 116)<ref name="p2008"/> | |
| 2007 | July 19 – August 25<ref name="p2007">Perseids 2007: first results Template:Webarchive</ref> | August 13 (ZHRmax 93)<ref name="p2007" /> | ||
| 2006 | August 12/13 (ZHRmax 100)<ref>EAAS</ref> | |||
| 2005 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref>)<ref>22jul_perseids2005 Template:Webarchive NASA.gov</ref> | ||
| 2004 | August 12 (ZHRmax >200)<ref name=jimo37_5_161/> | |||
| 1994 | citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> | ||
| 1993 | (ZHRmax 200–500)<ref name="Kronk"/> | |||
| 1992 | August 11 (outburst under a full moon on Aug 13)<ref name=Brown1992>Template:Cite journal</ref> | |||
| 1883 | August 9 or earlier<ref name="Corder1883"/> | August 11 (ZHRmax 43)<ref name="Corder1883">Template:Cite journal</ref> | ||
| 1864 | (ZHRmax >100)<ref name="Kronk"/> | |||
| 1863 | (ZHRmax 109–215)<ref name="Kronk"/> | |||
| 1861 | (ZHRmax 78–102)<ref name="Kronk"/> | |||
| 1858 | (ZHRmax 37–88)<ref name="Kronk"/> | |||
| 1839 | (ZHRmax 165)<ref name="Kronk"/> |
Historical observations and associationsEdit
Some Catholics refer to the Perseids as the "tears of Saint Lawrence", suspended in the sky but returning to Earth once a year on August 10, the canonical date of that saint's martyrdom in 258 AD.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The saint is said to have been burned alive on a gridiron. His manner of death is almost certainly the origin of the Mediterranean folk legend claiming that the shooting stars are the sparks of Saint Lawrence's martyrdom. The legend holds that during the night of August 9 to 10, cooled embers appear in the ground under plants; these embers are known as the "coal of Saint Lawrence."<ref>Template:In lang Falling stars and coal under the basil www.sanlorenzomaggiore.net</ref><ref>Template:In lang The Coal of Saint Lawrence balbianblog.blogspot.it</ref>
The transition in favor of the Catholic saint and his feast day on August 10, moving away from pagan gods and their festivals — a process known as Christianization — was facilitated by the phonetic assonance of the Latin name Laurentius with Acca Larentia,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> a goddess previously celebrated during the summer period alongside Priapus, as a fertility deity. Among the Romans, it was believed that the trails of the Perseids represented the benevolent rain of Priapus' seed.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In this context, the god's cosmogonic phallus acted as a life-giver, blessing the fields and promoting fertility. During the same period, phallic processions and other sexual rites were common. Christianity, which had a different relationship with sexuality and generativity compared to Greco-Roman culture, replaced this sexual connotation with a reference to martyrdom.<ref>Template:In lang{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1836 Adolphe Quetelet wrote: J'ai cru remarquer aussi une fréquence plus grande de ces météores au mois d'août (du 8 au 15) "I think I noticed also a greater frequency of these meteors in the month of August (from 8 to 15)."<ref name="AORB1836">Annuaire de l'Observatoire Royal de Bruxelles, Volume 4, 1836, p272 (In French)</ref> After studying historical records, he predicted a peak on 10 August. He then wrote to other astronomers, who confirmed this prediction on the night of 10 August 1837. Quetelet missed the shower due to bad weather.<ref name="Sauval">Sauval, J., "Quetelet and the Discovery of the First Meteor Showers", WGN, Journal of the International Meteor Organization, {25} February 1997, pp 21-33 </ref>
In 1866, after the perihelion passage of Swift-Tuttle in 1862, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli discovered the link between meteor showers and comets.<ref name="Sauval"/> The finding is contained in an exchange of letters with Angelo Secchi.
In popular cultureEdit
In his 2006 novel Against the Day, American novelist Thomas Pynchon refers to the Perseid meteor shower being watched by three characters west of the Dolores Valley after playing a game of tarot. In the TV series Curious George, season 7 episode 1b, George and his friends Allie and Bill hunt for the Perseids, which they believe are creatures that look like purses. At the end of the episode, Allie's grandfather Mr. Renkins says that the Perseids is a meteor shower happening in early August.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
John Denver's song "Rocky Mountain High" references the showers with the lyric, "I've seen it raining fire in the sky."
See alsoEdit
- Leonids, associated with the comet Tempel–Tuttle
- Asteroid impact prediction
- Earth-grazing fireball
- List of asteroid close approaches to Earth
- Meteoroid
ReferencesEdit
General and cited referencesEdit
- Littman, Mark, The Heavens on Fire: The Great Leonid Meteor Storms, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998. Template:ISBN. Chapter 6, "The Discovery of the August Meteors", pp. 83–100.
External linksEdit
- Where to see the Perseids and public stargazing events in the UK (Go Stargazing)
- Worldwide viewing times for the 2016 Perseids meteor shower
- How to see the Perseid meteor shower in 2024 (Paul Sutherland)
- How to photograph a meteor shower (Skymania)
- Perseid Observing Conditions (The International Project for Radio Meteor Observation)
- 2014 Perseids Radio results (RMOB)
- Perseid Visibility Map Template:Webarchive (2014 NASA Meteoroid Environment Office)
- 2009 Perseid Meteor Fireball
- NASA website on the Perseid shower of 2009
- Sky & Telescope Magazine – Perseids at Their Prime
- 2012 Image of Perseids emanating from the radiant
- What are the perseids?
Template:Stars of Perseus Template:Meteor showers Template:Portal bar