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Perzeidy, radiant

Perseids to brighten the night sky

1. 8. 2024 | 187 visits

These days, the Perseid meteor shower is increasing in activity. Earth will soon encounter a stream of dust particles in the orbit of the periodic comet 109P/Swift–Tuttle. The shower can be observed yearly with about the same maximum frequency of 45 meteors per hour.

"The meteor shower is active from the last ten days of July to mid-August, with individual meteors occurring until mid-September. The width of the current is about 65 million km. The central fibre is relatively narrow, about 10 million km long. In 4 days at peak, which will fall on the night of August 12-13, the Earth will encounter 62% of all Perseids," says associate professor Ján Svoreň from the Astronomical Institute SAS.

Conditions for observing in 2024 are favourable before the peak. At peak, the Moon will be in its first quarter. After the peak, the conditions will be better only after the Moon sets in the second half of the night.

People should trace the constellation Perseus - in the northeastern part of the sky. There is a shower radiant, meteors seem to come from this constellation," adds the astronomer.