Bhubaneswar: If you are awake till late night and lucky enough, you may have a chance to spot about 60 to 70 meteors shooting towards earth’s surface in an hour from the night sky past midnight. This celestial activity is called the Perseid meteor showers.
The Perseid meteor showers are at its peak between August 11 and 13 every year, Subhendu Pattnaik, former deputy director of Pathani Samantha Planetarium in Bhubaneswar, told Odisha Bytes.
According to NASA, meteoroids are space rocks that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids. When meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere, or that of another planet, at high speed and burn up, they are called meteors or the shooting stars.
Why are Perseid meteor showers special?
“On normal days, you can see five meteors per hour in the night sky. But, during this period (August 11 to 13), we can see around 100 meteors per hour,” explained Pattnaik. These meteors will come from the Perseus constellation in the northern sky.
This constellation is named after the Greek mythological hero Perseus. It is one of the 48 ancient constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy. It also among the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union.
Swift Tuttle Comet causes the Perseid meteor shower, but what is it?
“Few comets—rocky and dusty balls— which visit our solar system or earth once in a while, they put some debris in the earth’s orbit. These particular meteors are caused by the comet called Swift Tuttle,” explained Pattanaik. Comet Swift-Tuttle takes 133 years to orbit the Sun once, according to NASA. It last reached perihelion (closest approach to the Sun) in 1992 and will return again in 2125. Its nucleus is 16 miles (26 kilometers) across. In 1865, Giovanni Schiaparelli had realized that this comet was the source of the Perseids, according to NASA.
Can you see the shower in Bhubaneswar?
You need to have a clear sky to be able to spot the meteor shower, said Pattnaik, adding that this celestial activity can be seen across Odisha and all over the world, especially the northern hemisphere. However, he also stated that the weather in Bhubaneswar was fluctuating, at times punctuated by a cloudy sky. “Tonight the sky in Bhubaneswar will be partially cloudy but for some time it will be very clear. So, after midnight it can be seen through the naked eyes in Bhubaneswar,” he said.
What can you do to increase you chances of seeing the shower?
For the best possible view, experts recommend the skygazers to get to an area where there are dark skies, away from street lights. “Give your eyes around 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness and either sit or lie down to see some meteors,” Pattnaik said.
Other celestial events to look out for: Supermoon
Pattnaik said the skygazers in Bhubaneswar and rest of the country would also be able to experience Supermoon on August 19. “When the full moon is bigger and brighter, it is called the Supermoon. It will be almost 10 times bigger and 14 times brighter on that day,” he explained. An extraordinary planetary alignment will occur with Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn in the morning sky on August 28.
Northern Light was seen in some parts of the world
Skygazers on Sunday night were treated not only to the Perseid meteor shower but a spectacular display of the Northern lights, reported the BBC. After a strong geomagnetic storm in the early hours of Monday morning, the Northern lights were seen as far south as Norfolk. The social media was flooded with users posting photos of the Northern lights.
I’ve just spent the wee hours of this morning in the company of thunder & lightening, shooting stars, & incredibly though I’m on Cape Clear, the most southerly inhabited part of #Ireland, the northern lights…what a night!!!#Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #CapeClear pic.twitter.com/U3OmvLqQ5O
— Andy Sheridan (@jnrbaker) August 12, 2024
“I’ve just spent the wee hours of this morning in the company of thunder & lightening, shooting stars, & incredibly though I’m on Cape Clear, the most southerly inhabited part of #Ireland, the northern lights…what a night!!! #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #CapeClear,” wrote a X user.
