Often bringing one of the most vivid annual meteor showers visible in Earth’s night sky, the Perseids will peak on August 12 and 13. Typically, it delivers 50-100 “shooting stars” per hour at its height, putting on an impressive show. There’s just one problem this year: the full moon. “Unfortunately, this year’s Perseid peak will see the worst possible conditions for observers,” said NASA astronomer Bill Cooke, who heads the Meteor Environment Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “Most of us in North America would normally see 50 or 60 meteors an hour,” he said, “but this year, during the normal peak, the full moon will reduce that to 10-20 an hour at best.” Because the Moon is much brighter than anything else in the night sky, it will wash out all but the brightest Perseids as they pass through our atmosphere and burn up very high. A Perseid meteor shower lights up the sky in 2009 in this NASA time-lapse image. Credit: NASA/JPL As the full moon wanes, the Perseids will begin to wane around August 21-22 and stop completely by September 1. It is the remains of Comet Swift-Tuttle debris, a lumbering “snowball” of ice, rock and dust. which orbits our Sun every 133 years. The comet itself was last visible to us in 1992 and won’t pass us by again for more than 100 years: not until 2125. How far the Perseid sightings actually go remains a matter of dispute, Cook said. The comet itself was not identified until 1862, but the meteor shower appeared in medieval Europe. The annual event became known as “The Tears of Saint Lawrence”, named for the last of the seven deacons of the Roman church martyred by the emperor Valerian in August of the year 258. So, while this might not be the best year to make a special trip to see the Perseids, if you happen to be outside between midnight and dawn on August 13, don’t forget to look up anyway. Because you never know – you might just catch one of the bright Perseid meteors defying the Moon’s glare. Also, be aware that the occasional early Perseid can cross the sky up to a week earlier. If you want to know what else is in the sky for August 2022, check out the latest “What’s Up” video from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory: What are some of the highlights of sky watching in August 2022? The daily parade of four planets with the naked eye in the mornings ends this month. However, there are still plenty of great spots, especially if you have access to binoculars. Plus, Saturn and Jupiter are returning to the night skies! Prospects for the Perseid meteors aren’t great due to the full moon on the peak night of August 12, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for the first Perseids after midnight last week. And August is a great month to learn about an easy-to-spot constellation – Cygnus the Cygnus.
