Perseid Meteor Shower 2023: Best Cities for Viewing in Brazil, Visibility Conditions, and Upcoming Astronomical Events

1 of 7 Perseid meteor shower near the city of Bariloche, Argentina — Photo: Carlos Barria / Reuters Perseid meteor shower near the city of Bariloche, Argentina — Photo: Carlos Barria / Reuters

The Perseids meteor shower has its visibility peak in Brazil this weekend, August 12th and 13th, with up to 100 meteors per hour being able to be sighted according to the visibility in each region. The phenomenon can also be seen until the 24th, but with less intensity.

In general, viewing conditions are ideal, as the Moon will be heading towards the farthest point from Earth (which should happen on the 16th), making the night sky ideally dark to frame the spectacle.

2 of 7 Perseids on the island of Lastovo, Croatia — Photo: Antonio Bronic / Reuters Perseids on the island of Lastovo, Croatia — Photo: Antonio Bronic / Reuters

According to Alex Ganshin, CEO of meteorology platform Meteum, Manaus, Cuiabá and Belém are among the best cities to see the meteor shower, while São Paulo and Curitiba may not be the best places due to low visibility, clouds and rain.

3 of 7 Meteor streaks across the sky above a camp in the Negev desert in southern Israel — Photo: Menahem Kahana / AFP Photo Meteor streaks across the sky above a camp in the Negev desert in southern Israel — Photo: Menahem Kahana / AFP Photo 4 of 7 Perseids meteor is seen in the sky over Lastovo, Croatia, on August 12, 2023 — Photo: Antonio Bronic/REUTERS Perseids meteor is seen in the sky over Lastovo, Croatia, on August 12, 2023 — Photo: Antonio Bronic/REUTERS 5 of 7 Meteors tear through the skies during the Perseid meteor shower over Fushe Stude, Albania, on Aug. 13, 2023 — Photo: Florion Goga/REUTERS Albania, on August 13, 2023 — Photo: Florion Goga/REUTERS 6 of 7 Light rips through the sky during Perseid meteor shower on August 13, 2023 — Photo: Petros Giannakouris/AP Light rips through the sky during Perseid meteor shower in August 13, 2023 — Photo: Petros Giannakouris/AP

See below the visibility conditions for each state in the country:

low visibility: Acre, Maceio, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rondonia, Santa Catarina, Sao Paulodefault visibility: Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia, Ceará, Fortaleza, Brasilia, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraíba, Piauí, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul , Roraima, Sergipe and Tocantins.

The Perseid meteors are part of the Swift-Tuttle comet, which last made its appearance in 1991. The comet has a core 26 kilometers across, more than twice the size of the celestial object that led to the demise of the dinosaurs.

According to NASA, it takes 133 years for it to reappear in our sky, that is, it should return only in 2124.

7 of 7 Constellation of Cassiopeia, in the form of the letter ‘w’, on the left side of the constellation of Perseus. — Photo: Reproduction/Wikipedia Constellation of Cassiopeia, in the form of the letter ‘w’, on the left side of the constellation of Perseus. — Photo: Playback/Wikipedia

Once outside, look for the constellation of Perseus—the Perseids get their name because meteors seem to fall from this area of ​​the sky.

However, it might be better to look up Cassiopeia, as this constellation looks a bit like the letter ‘w’ and might be a little easier to recognize.

There are several free mobile applications that show the exact location of each one, just enable the use of the camera and point it to the sky.

upcoming astronomical events

In the second half of the year there will be two more eclipses, another supermoon and six other meteor showers. See the dates for each of them below:

🌕 August, 31 – Super blue moon (visible in most of the country);☀️October 14 – Annular solar eclipse (visible in most of the country); October 28-29 – Partial lunar eclipse (visible in a small part of the country). Taurids: active from September 10th to November 20th in the Southern Hemisphere (peak: from October 10th to 11th in the Southern Hemisphere). Peak meteors per hour: 5.Draconids: active from October 6th to 10th (peak: October 8th to 9th). Peak meteors per hour: 10.Orionids: active from October 2nd to November 7th (peak: from October 21st to 22nd). Peak meteors per hour: 25.Leonidas: Active from November 6th to November 30th (peak: November 17th to 18th). Peak meteors per hour: 10.Geminids: Active from December 4th to December 20th (peak: December 14th to December 15th). Peak meteors per hour: 150.Ursids: active from December 17th to December 26th (peak: December 22nd to December 23rd). Peak meteors per hour: 10.
2023-08-13 07:48:21
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