Nevertheless, it is better to travel for observation, especially at least tens of kilometers from large cities with the best view in all directions, i.e. to areas where the least disturbing light pollution.
Look for meteors especially early in the morning on August 12 and 13
The first Perseid meteors are usually observed already on July 17th, the last one on August 24th. However, most of them will appear around the peak, which will happen this year on Monday, August 12 in the afternoon.
Since the activity has already decreased after the peak, it is more appropriate to see the phenomenon on both nights, i.e. from Sunday to Monday (August 11/12) and from Monday to Tuesday (August 12 /13), as pointed out by Pavel Suchan. from the Czech Astronomical Society and the Institute of the Astronomical Society of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Petr Horálek from the Institute of Physics of the University of Silesia in Opava.
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In the sky, the moon will be in phase around the first quarter and will therefore set in the first half of the night. At the same time, it is always more convenient to observe meteors in the second half of it, when most of the meteors from our point of view shine above the horizon, not low Between midnight and 4am, around 60-80 meteors appear every hour, of which five to 15 may be very bright.
Weather permitting, there will be “clear” nights
Regarding the weather, basically the following nights, especially Monday and Tuesday, are the most favorable for observing meteors.
“We couldn’t have asked for better conditions – the nights will be ‘blown away’. Thanks to the area of high air pressure, we can look forward to clear skies, only on the night from Friday to Saturday it will be cloudy in the north of the area – there the weather will be influenced by a warm front , “meteorologist Dagmar Honsová told Novinka.
Photo: Petr Horálek
The Perseid meteor shower on the night of the 2018 peak over the Poloniny observatory in Slovakia
In any case, the importance of looking out in the second half of the night is highlighted by Suchan because the observatory in Ondřejov is not holding public comments this year at the height of swimming.
“We are not organizing a public Perseid viewing at the Ondřejovské observatory this year. Although we are very sorry, because this event has been canceled and 400 people come every year. This year, however, the reason is the moon, which shines in the first half of the night and thus disturbs the observation. People would be disappointed and make fun of us. So this year it’s a sight for the second half of the night anywhere under a clear sky,” he explained to Novinky.
Nevertheless, they are planning viewing events for the public, for example, at the observatory in Slane or Vsetín, weather permitting.
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In Ondřejov, people interested in viewing the Perseid may have to wait two years from now, as the observing conditions next year will be completely unfavorable just due to the unsuitable phase of the moon. According to astronomers, we won’t see the Perseids really visible until August 12, 2026. On that day, in addition to the maximum solar eclipse, there will also be a visible solar eclipse in Europe.
Perseid
The name of the phenomenon comes from the place in the constellation Perseus from where the meteors seem to fly out.
The first mention of the phenomenon goes back to the middle of the 3rd century AD related to the martyrdom of St. Lawrence. He was one of the nobles of the church who protected property in the Roman Empire. During the persecution of the Christians, he should have defied the order of the Roman emperor Valerian to give the property of the church to the ruler and instead give it to the poor. A few days after his execution, especially on August 10, 258, according to the people, glittering tears fell from the night sky. Since this event, the Perseids have been popularly known as the “Tears of St. Lawrence”.
The Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835-1910) confirmed that this is an astronomical phenomenon in the second half of the 19th century. He was the first in the world to describe the direct connection of meteors with comets and he even proved that the Perseids have their origin in dust particles released from the 109P Swift-Tuttle periodical, discovered by two American astronomers in 1862.
The comet, with a period of 134 years, was last closest to the Sun in 1992 and will not pass the ecliptic again until 2126. The Perseid Swarm reminds us regularly, because the Earth passes through a stream of dust that is scattered behind it. every year between July 17 and August 24. comet. Dust particles called meteoroids hit the Earth and shine in the atmosphere as meteors (often called “shooting stars”). Because these particles are generally smaller than grains of sand and are made up of a fragile chemical substance, they evaporate completely when they pass through the Earth’s atmosphere.
Photo: Petr Horálek
The 2016 Perseid meteor shower peak from Veľká Fatra Dark Sky Park in Slovakia
Perseid swarm particles enter the atmosphere at a speed of 59 km/s and begin to shine at a height of about 120 km above the Earth’s surface. They go out tens of kilometers below, in the case of Perseids even less than 80 km above the surface of the Earth. They fly into the atmosphere from one side.
“That is why it seems to us that their path starts from one place in the sky, which is technically called radiant. At the time of the highest needle, it is located in the upper-northeast half of the constellation Perseus. Since this constellation does not join us at all, meteors fly all night long,” said Suchan.
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Bright planets in the morning sky
In addition to the Perseid observation this year there will be a rare constellation in the morning sky: the bright planets Jupiter and Mars will come very close to each other angularly, moreover, in the photogenic sector of the constellation Taurus , near the Pleiades and Hyades. star clusters. Closest approach occurs just two days after Perseid maximum, on the night of August 14-15.
According to Horálek, the planets will approach 21 arcminutes in the sky on August 15 in the early morning. The maximum approach will happen already on August 14 at 18:52 CEST for 18 arc minutes, but at that time the planets will be below the horizon of our land. Both planets will come out on August 15, 2024, already an hour before morning CET.
Photo: Petr Horálek/Corporate Institute in Opava/Stellarium
This is what the close conjunction between Jupiter and Mars will look like on August 15, 2024, visible from midnight to dawn.
“When you look with the naked eye, the planets will be very close to each other and it will be impossible to miss even from cities. As the planets rise higher above the horizon, they simultaneously move slightly away from each other. Nevertheless, we will be able to observe them in one field of view even in a medium-sized telescope (with a diameter of more than 10 cm), Horálek said.
We can also see Jupiter’s four “Galilean moons”: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto near Jupiter.
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2024-08-09 15:10:16
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