The meteor bathe creates a chance to take a seat outdoors at night time and watch taking pictures stars. It is also a chance for researchers to do some science.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Do you need to watch some taking pictures stars? I do know I do. I’ve by no means seen them in particular person. So if you happen to’re like me, heads up – actually, as a result of the annual Perseid meteor bathe is underway. When it reaches its peak round Sunday and Monday, it will be a terrific alternative to search for on the night time sky. Here is NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce.
NELL GREENFIELDBOYCE, BYLINE: The Earth is consistently shifting via area, orbiting the solar, and each summer time, our planet plows via a bunch of particles left behind by a comet, a giant ice ball known as Comet Swift-Tuttle. Peter Brown is a meteor researcher with the College of Western Ontario. He says bits of rock and mud from this comet hit our ambiance going actually quick – over 100,000 miles per hour.
PETER BROWN: And since it hits so quick, we are able to see very tiny particles.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: A particle the dimensions of, say, a grain of sand will slam into the higher ambiance. This heats the little particle up, atoms boil off, and people atoms go on to have their very own collisions.
BROWN: So when you’ve got two atoms slamming collectively tens of kilometers a second, you get an entire bunch of issues which can be produced – you get electrons, ions, and also you excite the atoms, they usually produce mild.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: A streak of sunshine so vibrant, it may be seen from many miles away. He says, an incoming pebble that weighs about as a lot as a paper clip can look brighter than the planet Venus. And when the Perseid bathe peaks on the night time of August 11, going into August 12…
BROWN: You may see a handful of these – three, 4, 5 of these – an hour.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: Plus fainter ones, too. And if you happen to’re fortunate, possibly one thing greater and brighter, an actual fireball. Brown says with another meteor showers, if you happen to miss the height, you are out of luck, however not so with the Perseids.
BROWN: The Perseids are so massive, they usually’re so unfold out that you may see them inside a day or two of the height, and you continue to see a extremely spectacular present.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: So if you happen to’re busy or there’s clouds, attempt one other night time. One of the best view will come underneath actually darkish skies with out mild air pollution or the moon. Hunter Miller is a public observing educator on the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.
HUNTER MILLER: The later you are out, the extra darkish the skies will get because the moon units, and beginning like previous midnight, you may have a reasonably good darkish sky.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: He says, seize a garden chair or a blanket and discover a spot with as large a view of the sky as you may get. Look northward. Your eyes have to regulate to the darkness. So it is best to take a seat out for at the very least half-hour with out peeking at your cellphone.
MILLER: Use your cellphone to, , discover the situation it is advisable to look to within the sky, however then maintain them away as a result of it actually can, , principally mess up the entire time that you simply spent making an attempt to let your eyes get darkish adjusted.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: He says, plenty of time, you search for within the sky, and it feels everlasting. However a taking pictures star solely lasts a pair seconds. That is a part of its attraction.
MILLER: It feels such as you noticed one thing actually particular and private.
GREENFIELDBOYCE: And the Perseids are certainly one of your finest possibilities all 12 months to see one.
Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR Information.
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