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Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- Science
- Irish Examiner
Perseid meteor shower to light up Irish skies tonight with up to 100 shooting stars an hour
Shooting stars will be visible across Ireland on Tuesday night as the annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak. The Perseids, named because they seem to burst out of the constellation Perseus, are one of the highlights of the year for skygazers due to their high hourly rate and bright meteors, caused by the Earth slamming into debris left behind by comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle in July and August each summer. These meteoroids, which are no bigger than grains of sand, burn up as they hit the Earth's atmosphere at speeds of around 36 miles per second, producing a dazzling display that lasts only a second or less. Though there are about 12 meteor showers annually, the Perseids are the brightest. Tonight, around 150 meteoroids will cross the sky each hour, though the full amount will not be visible due to the horizon blocking part of the view. That said, an estimated 100 meteoroids may still be visible each hour in certain locations, particularly those that are flat and dark. The best time for skygazing tonight will be when the sky is darkest: after sunset but before moonrise. Speaking to the Irish Examiner earlier this month, Niall Smith, Head of Research at MTU and Head of Blackrock Castle Observatory, said that though the Perseids appear every summer and astronomers know a great deal about them, "there remains a thrill in simply going outside and looking up expectantly until a Perseid flashes across your vision." "We know meteors are caused by small particles, typically of the size of a grain of sand, as they burn up in the Earth's atmosphere in a second or two. We know that those which show colours do so because they cause molecules of oxygen and nitrogen in our atmosphere, primarily, to glow momentarily. Or sometimes because of the vaporisation of the material in the meteors themselves," he said. "We know the particles from the Perseids come from the tail of a comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle which takes 133 years to orbit the sun once — a discovery made in 1865 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. So you'd be right to think we actually know quite a lot about them." Mr Smith added: "Observing the death of a grain of sand that may have been wandering the solar system for more than 4 billion years may not advance our scientific knowledge, but it has a way of connecting us as humans to the greater cosmos with minimal preparation on our part" "To paraphrase the great astronomer-communicator Carl Sagan, it does nothing to the romance of the Perseids to know a little bit about them." While the celestial shower will peak tonight, anyone who misses out on seeing the Perseids need not worry — they will remain visible for the next week or so.
Irish Examiner
02-08-2025
- Science
- Irish Examiner
Sky Matters: It's August so it's time to look out for Perseids
We are very fortunate to live at a time in human history when we have a comprehensive understanding of many of the objects in the night sky; how they came into being and how — and when — they will cease to exist. Much of what we know, we have learned only in the last 150–200 years. The path to this knowledge has been far from straightforward. It is littered with theories that failed to stand up to close scrutiny, with observations that only told part of the story and indeed sometimes led us on the celestial equivalent of a wild goose chase. Nevertheless, through the fundamental self-correcting approach that is the very essence of the scientific method, only the best theories, supported by the best observations, have survived and brought us to where we are today. There is absolutely nothing truly complete in our understanding of even the most common objects in the universe, such as stars or planets, and there will surely be twists and turns ahead as new theories and new observations challenge aspects of understanding which we feel confident about today. That is exciting! It is a characteristic of the scientific method, not a bug. During August the most famous meteor shower — the Perseids — will peak on the evening of 12th. We know meteors are caused by small particles, typically of the size of a grain of sand, as they burn up in the Earth's atmosphere in a second or two. We know that those which show colours do so because they cause molecules of oxygen and nitrogen in our atmosphere, primarily, to glow momentarily. Or sometimes because of the vaporisation of the material in the meteors themselves. We know the particles from the Perseids come from the tail of a comet called 109P/Swift-Tuttle which takes 133 years to orbit the sun once — a discovery made in 1865 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. So you'd be right to think we actually know quite a lot about them. Perseid meteor trail. Time exposure showing a trail of a Perseid meteor against a starry sky at dusk. The Perseids are meteors seen around August 12 each year, and which appear to originate from the direction of the constellation Perseus. These meteors are small dust particles from an orbiting dust belt known as the meteor stream. As the Earth passes through the stream, a large number of dust particles enter the atmosphere and burn up, creating a bright trail. At its peak, the Perseid shower has about one meteor per minute. This photograph was taken in British Columbia, Canada. Yet there remains a thrill in simply going outside and looking up expectantly until a Perseid flashes across your vision. Observing the death of a grain of sand that may have been wandering the solar system for more than 4 billion years may not advance our scientific knowledge, but it has a way of connecting us as humans to the greater cosmos with minimal preparation on our part. To paraphrase the great astronomer-communicator Carl Sagan, it does nothing to the romance of the Perseids to know a little bit about them. Roll the clock back a few hundred years and those same Perseids had no scientific explanation. Yet they were just as visible to our ancestors as they are to us today. Alongside comets and other meteor showers, Perseids were recorded in mythology, including Irish mythology. Medieval Irish annals such as the Annals of Ulster, Four Masters, and Annals of Tigernach recorded comets — 'long-haired stars' and associated them as omens heralding disasters, famine, wars or death. Irish medieval monks who copied and preserved ancient texts recorded 'wonders in the sky' as signs from God — noting flaming swords, burning stars, or falling fire. Some of these may well refer to brighter, rare meteors of a centimeter or more in size, though we can't be sure. 'Falling stars' were considered a curse or a blessing depending on local traditions. In some cases they may have been linked to archaeological sites such as ring forts or dolmens. In other cases they were associated with a soul going to heaven, or perhaps a visit from a divine being from the 'otherworld' — rarely considered a good thing! More latterly, a meteor was an opportunity to make a wish. Far from a momentary flash of light in the night sky, meteors are a reminder of the advancement of human thought and the power of celestial phenomena to brighten up our lives — quite literally. Niall Smith is head of research / head of Blackrock Castle Observatory, Munster Technological University, Cork
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
What to know about the Perseids and when to view the 2025 meteor shower
The Perseids meteor shower begins this week and is expected to offer one of the best shows in the sky of 2025. The event is considered the best meteor shower of the year, according to NASA, and is also the most popular. When is the 2025 Perseid meteor shower? The shower begins on Thursday, July 17, and will continue for several weeks, until at least Aug. 23, according to NASA and the American Meteor Society, a nonprofit organization. The meteor shower is expected to peak from Aug. 12-13, although moonlight will impact meteor visibility. The moon will be 84% full during the peak. Where and how to view the Perseids NASA says the best time to view the Perseids is early in the morning, before dawn, in the Northern Hemisphere. Sometimes, however, the meteors can be seen at night as early as 10 p.m. "The Perseids are one of the most plentiful showers with about 50 to 100 meteors seen per hour," NASA says. "They occur with warm summer nighttime weather allowing sky watchers to comfortably view them." Perseids often leave long "wakes" of color and light when they move through Earth's atmosphere. NASA notes they are also known for their fireballs. "Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak," the space agency says. "This is due to the fact that fireballs originate from larger particles of cometary material. Fireballs are also brighter." What causes the Perseids meteor shower? The meteor shower occurs when Earth passes through an area of space debris left by a comet coming around the sun. Debris interacts with Earth's atmosphere and disintegrates, resulting in colorful lines in the sky, according to NASA and the American Meteor Society. "The pieces of space debris that interact with our atmosphere to create the Perseids originate from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle," which last visited the inner solar system in 1992, NASA says. Swift-Tuttle takes 133 years to orbit the sun, NASA said, and in 1865, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli became the first person to determine this comet was the source of the Perseids. When looking at the Perseids, they appear to come from the constellation Perseus, which is why this meteor shower has its name. But as NASA explains, the meteors don't actually originate from the constellation. Trump pushes senators to make $9.4 trillion in spending cuts Mike Johnson breaks from Trump, calls on DOJ to release Epstein files L.A. Mayor Karen Bass says National Guard deployment in city was "a misuse" of soldiers
