Unfortunately at these times the Perseid radiant lies close to the northeastern horizon so the best rates for viewing from North America will be during the early morning hours of August 13th when the Perseid radiant lies higher in the sky.
This corresponds 9pm EDT and 6pm PDT on the evening of August 12th. In 2022, the expected time of maximum will occur near 01:00 Universal Time. If this time coincides with the early morning hours, you are in for quite a show. On Friday night/Saturday morning August 12/13, the Earth will pass closest to the core orbit of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Perhaps this is due to fatigue as experienced observers have watched for several hours by then and may have trouble staying alert. Experienced observers often say the hour between 03:00 and 04:00 is usually the best, not 04:00 to 05:00. Theoretically, the best time to watch the Perseids is just before the break of dawn when the radiant lies highest in a dark sky. As the morning progresses, the activity will increase as the radiant climbs higher into the sky. You still only see about half of the actual activity as the remainder still occur beyond your line of sight. The meteors are now shorter and last only a few tenths of a second. While these meteors are few, they are certainly worth the effort to try and catch.Īs the Earth rotates and the time approaches local midnight, the Perseid radiant has risen higher into the northeastern sky. Occasionally one will pass overhead and will be unforgettable as you watch it shoot across the sky for several seconds. Most of these “earthgrazing” Perseids will be seen low in the east or west, traveling north to south. Since they last longer they also will travel a much longer distance across the sky. The reason is that they just skim the upper regions of the atmosphere and will last much longer than Perseids seen during the morning hours. The few that do come your way this time of night are special. This is the worst time to try and view the shower for sheer numbers as most of the activity will occur beyond your line of sight, being blocked by the horizon. During the evening hours the radiant, the area of the sky where Perseid meteors shoot from, is located low in the northern sky. To view the Perseids at their best, you need to know when to watch. This is also why we need a leap year every 4 years to accommodate that extra 24 hours. This is why the time of maximum activity shifts forward year to year. Due to the fact that the Earth revolves around the sun in 365 1/4 days, the maximum time of each shower advances 6 hours with each passing year.
Note that date as the usual Perseid maximum occurs on the morning of August 12th. Despite the glare of moonlight, the Perseids produce many bright meteors that can still be easily seen despite the bright moonlight.
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Such is the case in 2022 when a bright full moon will lie above the horizon most of the night. Most of the Perseid meteors are faint and bright moonlight will make it difficult to view. If a bright moon is above the horizon during the night of maximum activity, then the display will be reduced.
The strength of each Perseid display varies year to year, mainly due to lunar conditions. There are stronger meteor showers but they appear during the colder time of year in the northern hemisphere when conditions are less inviting. This meteor shower is perhaps the most popular as it is active during the summer months in the northern hemisphere. Even though the comet now lies in the outer portions of the solar system, far away from Earth, we still encounter debris that has been left behind during the many trips this comet has made through the solar system. This comet has an orbit of 133 years and last entered the inner solar system in 1992. For those of you who have written off the Perseids this summer, I beg to differ! Despite the full moon in the sky during the night of maximum activity, meteor rates will still be better than 95% of all other nights this year.Įach July and August the Earth encounters debris left behind from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.