How to see the meteor shower of the Tears of St. Lawrence this year – euronews

last update: 08/10/2016

Euronews

next week we will get up early to see as the” rain stars “illuminates the night sky. Known for its fast and bright meteors, the annual Perseid or “Tears of St. Lawrence” may be the best opportunity of the year to see meteors.

The Tears of San Lorenzo take place every year in August, when Earth enters the tail left behind by an ancient comet remains. This year, our planet will be closer than usual of that queue, which could lead to spectacular views.

“The forecasts predict an explosion of the Perseids this year with twice the normal ratio during the night of 11 to 12 August,” said Bill Coke, Office Environments Meteoroid (Meteoroid Environments Office) of the NASA in Huntsville, Alabama. “With perfect conditions, the average could rise to 200 meteors per hour.”

An “explosion” is a meteor shower more than usual. The last explosion took place Perseids in 2009.

Every Perseid meteor in a small part of the comet Swift-Tuttle, which completes an orbit around the sun every 133 years. Each swing through the inner solar system leaves billions of small particles. When Earth crosses paths with the remains of the Swift-Tuttle, such waste hit the atmosphere of our planet, disintegrating resulting in flashes of light. These meteors are called Perseids because they seem to fly from the constellation Perseus.

In most cases, the Earth just crosses the boundary zone of the tail of the Swift-Tuttle remains where there is less activity. However, at other times Jupiter’s gravity on earth tail and he approaches the center, where there is more matter.

This is one of those years. Experts from the NASA and other institutions agree that three or more waves are on a collision course with the earth.

“Here’s something to think about. meteors this year will originate drawn that occurred centuries or perhaps millenniums, “Cooke said. “And they have traveled thousands of kilometers before entering as kamikazes in the atmosphere of the Earth.”

How to see the meteor shower

No special equipment is needed as telescopes or binoculars to see this spectacular meteor shower.

– The best time to appreciate it is from 23:00 or midnight, when they can see up to 100 meteors per hour.

– Most meteors will be visible from non-urban areas, away from city lights.

– The best direction to look is part of the darker, probable and simplemetne up sky.

– Stay away from bright lights and your body eyes 15 and 20 minutes to adapt to darkness. Lie down and look up at the sky.

– The Perseids are ideal for digital photography. Put your camera on a tripod, preferably with a wide angle and a high level of ISO . Keep your shutter open between 10 and 15 seconds (or more if the place is very dark). With a little luck you can capture several Perseids through the photo.