Perseid meteor shower predicted to light up Northern California skies
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CHICO — For stargazers and aspiring astronomers alike, the approaching Perseid meteor shower will be the should-see party of the yr.
Illuminating the sky with approximately 100 capturing stars per hour, the meteor shower is one of the most beloved meteor showers in the Northern Hemisphere, mentioned Chico Point out Affiliate Professor of Physics Nicholas Nelson.
The gentle of the meteors will be seen to the bare eye, but will be simplest to see in darkish skies away from gentle air pollution.
“As a excellent rule of thumb, if you can see the Milky Way, you’re in an space that has fairly dark skies,” Nelson explained. “If you just search up for a number of minutes, you’ll see some quite amazing taking pictures stars.”
The meteor shower has been observed for hundreds of a long time from mid July to late August. It happens since a significant comet passes by the earth every single 133 yrs, leaving behind a path of debris in the environment. Every single yr the Earth passes by the Perseid constellation the place most of the particles are located, generating a exhibit of “shooting stars” in the Northern Hemisphere.
“If you get into an place with truly dim skies, the meteors truly search like they’re coming from a solitary stage on the sky,” Nelson mentioned. “All of the streaks will kind of trace back to just one spot. That’s why it is referred to as the Perseid meteor shower for the reason that it is coming from the constellation Perseus”
Nelson claimed that the finest time to see this phenomenon is in the course of the meteor shower’s peak on Aug. 12 and 13.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity to see one thing energetic heading on in the sky,” Nelson claimed. “Most of the time if you go stargazing, the stars are not doing extremely substantially. The Perseids and other meteor showers are great prospects to sort of see the sky in motion, exactly where you can see these gorgeous streaks of mild shoot throughout the sky.”
According to the NASA, this year’s shower will be a lot dimmer than normal because of to the whole moon lighting up the sky on Friday. NASA writes that simply because of the moon’s light-weight air pollution, the ideal time to see the shower is concerning midnight and dawn, but it could even now be challenging to catch a glimpse of the meteors.
The Perseid meteors will start to wane Aug. 21 to 22 and cease entirely by Sept. 1.
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