Perseid meteor shower outburst

Astronomers are predicting an outburst from the annual Perseid meteor shower that could see as many as 200 meteors an hour at its peak on the night of August 11-12 – around double the usual rate

WHERE TO SEE THEM

PERSEIDS Radiant – point from which meteor shower appears – originates in constellation
of Perseus. Name derives from Perseides – descendants of legendary Greek hero Perseus

ANDROMEDA

TRIANGULUM

PERSEUS

AURIGA

PLEIADES

ARIES

OPTIMUM VIEWING TIME

20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220

meteors per hour

Aug 9 Aug 12 Aug 15

Predicted rate before dawn – shower at peak and radiant overhead

Perseids seen annually from around Jul 17-Aug 24

CAUSE OF OUTBURST

Perseid cloud: 1,000-year-old stream of debris trailing behind

Comet Swift-Tuttle

Comet orbit: 133 years

Sun

Earth

2016: Bigger outburst due to gravitational influence of Jupiter moving particle orbit closer to Earth

Sources: EarthSky.org, Star Walk 2 iOS app, NASA, wire agencies