This summer, don't miss the Perseid meteor shower, with peak activity scheduled for the night of August 12 to 13. Nearly a hundred meteors could split the sky every hour.
It's one of the most anticipated astronomical events of the summer:the Perseid meteor shower. Already visible in the night sky, this "stardust" will increase in number over the coming nights, with peak activity expected on August 12-13.
Between 60 and 100 meteors could then show up every hour. Note that peaks of 150 or even 200 meteors are expected around 3-4 a.m. . Obviously, as with any astronomical event, it is best to get away from any source of light pollution . We also hope that the weather will be nice.
The parent body of this meteor shower is none other than Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, named after its discoverers.
Like all comets, Swift-Tuttle, made up of rock and ice, leaves behind a trail of dust grains which, when they enter the Earth's atmosphere, are instantly vaporized under the effect of heat. It is this process that is at the origin of these luminous streaks that we can appreciate from the surface.
For those interested, the site meteorshowers.org allows you to follow the trajectory of the Perseids.
Going back to the parent body, you should know that Comet 109P , with its 26 kilometer diameter core, could one day pose a threat to our planet.
Its complete revolution around the Sun, every 133 years, brings it back each time a little closer to the Earth. During its last passage, in 1992, the object passed at a distance of 177 million kilometers . At the next rendezvous, in 2126, it is expected to pass 24 million kilometers of the earth. For comparison, this is about a third of the distance separating us from the planet Mars.
These distances seem far away, but from an astronomical point of view, they are actually very close. Nevertheless, our descendants concerned will not have too much to worry about.
On the other hand, things could start to go wrong during its next passage, in 3044. In that year, the comet is indeed expected to "graze" our planet less than 1.6 million kilometres!
Note that the Perseids will not be the last rain this year. Next will come the Orionids (October 2 – November 7), then the Leonids (November 6 – November 30). We will finally end with the Geminids (December 4 – December 17) and the Ursids (December 18 – December 26).
