Astro Bob: 7 ideas for having fun with Perseid meteor bathe (plus, aurora alert!) – Duluth News Tribune

Let’s begin with the aurora. After snoozing a lot of the summer time, the solar “woke up” Aug. 5.

A fancy sunspot group broke out in a flare that launched an offended cloud of charged particles in Earth’s route that is anticipated to reach Thursday night time, Aug. 7, and spark a average auroral show between about 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. native time. Light from the almost full moon will reduce the storm’s depth, however we should always nonetheless see arcs and rays ripple throughout the northern sky ought to it come to cross.

Contributed / Peter Jenniskens, Ian Webster with additions by Bob King

The massive occasion within the coming week is the annual Perseid meteor bathe, which peaks Tuesday night time, Aug. 12, by way of Wednesday morning, Aug. 13.

Every summer time, the Earth crosses the trail of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Debris shed by the interplanetary traveler litters its orbit. When we encounter the drifting detritus, it smacks the environment at 133,000 mph and incinerates in fast-fading flashes of sunshine known as “meteors.”

Without a vivid moon, we would see 50-75 meteors per hour from the countryside on a moonless night time in the course of the wee hours of Wednesday morning, when the bathe is strongest.

This time round, the waning gibbous moon rises round 10 p.m. and lights up the sky all night time. The glare will scale back the hourly variety of meteors by at the very least half. Since the Perseids produce frequent fireballs — meteors at the very least as vivid as Venus — we’ll nonetheless see a bunch, moon or not.

Here are seven methods to maximise your meteor enjoyment. And understand that you possibly can nonetheless view the bathe for a day or two earlier than and after most.

Earthgrazers are Perseid meteors that strike the environment at a really shallow angle, like a stone deftly skipped throughout the floor of a pond. They’re vivid, flare for a lot of seconds and go away lengthy trails. Watch for them towards the japanese and western horizons when the radiant remains to be low within the sky, from round 9:30-10:30 p.m.

Contributed / Stellarium with additions by Bob King

Although Perseids will stream anyplace and all over the place throughout the sky, all of them radiate from a degree within the constellation Perseus under the “W” of Cassiopeia. Face any route to look at the bathe, however keep away from the moon or it’ll dazzle your eyes and spoil your night time imaginative and prescient.

If you reside in a bigger metropolis, think about driving to a rural website to additional scale back mild air pollution. Even although the moon can be up, each little little bit of darkness helps. To discover a darkish sky the place you reside, seek the advice of the map at

lightpollutionmap.info.

We can thank the moon for one factor — it factors to Saturn. Look a couple of fist to its proper to identify the ringed planet the night time of Aug. 12-13. If you do not have already got a stargazing app, obtain

Stellarium Mobile

(stellarium-labs.com/stellarium-mobile-plus).

Once put in, maintain it to the sky and see when you can add a constellation or two to your life record whereas ready for the subsequent meteor to blaze overhead.

Ask a buddy to affix you. Quiet dialog underneath a moonlit sky with somebody you are near is considered one of life’s little joys. If you are a mum or dad, share the Perseids together with your children. They love staying up late, particularly when it entails being outdoors. Something to drink and some snacks will sweeten the deal.

Contributed / Jeremy Perez (perezmedia.internet)

Each meteor is exclusive. Watch for various colours — attributable to the excitation of each atmospheric gases and meteor materials — particularly in fireballs, which sometimes sport lengthy trains.

Trains are glowing trails that may final a number of seconds or extra. You would possibly even see “sparks” alongside the meteor’s path because it disintegrates within the environment.

Night sounds just like the rasping pulsations of katydids and crickets add rather a lot to the temper. So do the yips and howls of coyotes and wolves. White-throated sparrows and sedge wrens, amongst others, sing at night time. Let your nostril roam. Smell the night time’s perfumed air, thick with luscious hydrocarbons launched by the warmth of the day from vegetation and flowers.

If I take what comes, I are likely to get pleasure from it extra. For all we all know, the bathe could possibly be a dud. But the act of getting on the market improves your possibilities of experiencing one thing distinctive and memorable. This I assure — on the morning of Aug. 12, Venus and Jupiter will pair up in a outstanding conjunction low within the japanese sky at daybreak, from round 4-5:15 a.m. Once you see it, you will not remorse the hour.

“Astro” Bob King is a contract author and retired photographer for the Duluth News Tribune. You can attain him at [email protected].