Amersham Together July August 2023

COMMUNITY NEWS
The Perseids
Meteor Shower –
an amazing
spectacle
Have you ever looked up at the night
sky in the second week of August and
caught a glimpse of a fast-moving streak
of light?
If so this is likely to be the Perseids meteor
shower, which NASA experts say will be the
best shower of the year, with people seeing
about 60-70 meteors per hour. The best
nights to see this will be over August 13th
and 14th August, in the later evening, as the
moon will be very favourable in that it will set
before the meteor shower gets underway.
It is best when looking for meteors to take
in as much sky as possible, and find a dark
area, with low levels of light pollution. A
hilltop or open field in the countryside is
good. And with the Perseid meteor shower it
is best to look toward the North East. This is
toward the constellation Perseus, from which
the meteor gets its name.
The shower is created by the Earth as it goes
around the sun passing every year through
the dust and debris of the Swift-Tuttle comet,
the largest known object to repeatedly pass
by Earth. It last passed by in 1992, and the
next time will be in 2126. It is not forgotten
however, because of the annual passing of
Earth through the dust trail.
As you sit back and look at the meteor
shower you are actually seeing pieces of
the comet debris heat up as they enter our
atmosphere and burn up in vivid bright light
streaks, as they travel at 37 miles (59 km) per
second., equivalent to 133,000 miles per
hour.
In space the debris pieces are called
‘meteoroids’, but when they reach our
atmosphere they are known as meteors. In
the unlikely event that they make their way
down to our planet surface they are called
‘meteorites’. It’s unlikely that any of the
Perseid meteors will find their way to Earth
as they are much too small, being about the
size of a grain of sand.
It is interesting that the name ‘meteor’ comes
from the Greek, meaning all atmospheric
phenomena, and studying this was called
meteorology. It was only in the 19th century
that meteorology became restricted to
specifically the study of weather.
So, put a date in your diary between
13th and 14th August. Find a dark place with
a good view of the sky after the moon has
set and look to the North East. Take the
family, they will be amazed by the spectacle,
and all because our small fragile planet
speeds around the sun every single year
passing through the Swift Tuttle comet
dust cloud!
Doc Brown
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