Latest news with #Skygazers
CNET
4 hours ago
- Science
- CNET
Here's How to Spot Bright Fireballs During the Dazzling Perseids Meteor Shower
Skygazers rejoice, the summer isn't finished with delivering dazzling meteor showers. The last week of July saw dueling meteor showers taking over the sky, but the most popular meteor shower of the year won't hit its peak until next week. The Perseids meteor shower is about to give you a real light show, provided you're far enough away from light pollution to see it. Perseids are known for their bright fireballs and plentiful meteors. The show started on July 17, and will run through Aug. 23. The reason the Perseids meteor shower is so popular is twofold. First, it takes place in the summer, so going outside and watching it is less uncomfortable than other large meteor showers like Quadrantids, which takes place in wintery January. The other reason is that it's one of the most active meteor showers of the year. During its peak, the meteor shower is known to rain down as many as 100 meteors per hour, according to the American Meteor Society. These not only include your typical shooting stars, but also a higher chance for fireballs, which are meteors that explode as they enter orbit. Per NASA, fireballs tend to last longer than standard shooting stars and can come in a variety of different colors. Perseids come to Earth courtesy of the 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet. Earth's orbit around the sun brings it through Swift-Tuttle's tail every year. The comet itself takes 133 years to orbit the sun. Its last perihelion -- the point at which it's the closest to the sun -- was in 1992. It won't be back until the year 2125. Until then, it leaves behind an excellent tail of dust and debris to feed us yearly meteor showers. How to catch the Perseids meteor shower The best time to view the Perseids is during its peak, which occurs on the evenings of Aug. 12 and 13. During this time, the shower will produce anywhere from 25 to 100 meteors per hour on average. However, since the shower officially lasts for over a month, you have a chance to see a shooting star on any given evening, provided that you're far enough away from light pollution. Thus, if you're planning on watching this year's Perseids during their peak, you'll want to get out of the city and suburbs as far as possible. According to Bill Cooke, lead of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office, folks in the city might see one or two meteors from the meteor shower per hour, which is pocket change compared to what those outside city limits might see. Regardless, once you've arrived at wherever you want to watch the meteors, you'll want to direct your attention to the radiant, or the point at which the meteors will appear to originate. Like all meteors, Perseids are named after the constellation from which they appear. In this case, it's Perseus. Per Stellarium's free sky map, Perseus will rise from the northeastern horizon across the continental US on the evenings of Aug. 12 and 13. It'll then rise into the eastern sky, where it'll remain until after sunrise. So, in short, point yourself due east and you should be OK. Binoculars may help, but we recommend against telescopes since they'll restrict your view of the sky to a very small portion, which may hinder your meteor-sighting efforts. The American Meteor Society also notes that the moon may give viewers some difficulty. Perseids' peak occurs just three days after August's full moon, so the moon will still be mostly full. Thus, it is highly probable that light pollution from the moon may reduce the number of visible meteors by a hefty margin, depending on how things go.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
August's full moon reaches peak illumination this weekend. The best time to see it and the cloud forecast.
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a … sturgeon? Sky-gazers will be able to enjoy August's spectacular full moon — known as a 'sturgeon moon' — at peak illumination this weekend. For those in North America, it will start Friday night and go into early Saturday, just days ahead of next week's highly anticipated 2025 Perseid meteor shower. Even if you're in a big city with lots of lights, viewers can still see the moon's brilliance overnight Friday into Saturday. An open field or elevated location with an unobstructed view facing the eastern horizon are the best spots for viewing the moon as it rises. Sky-gazers will be able to see the full moon with the naked eye, but binoculars or a telescope will allow them to see the details of the lunar surface. Here's when to see the sturgeon moon and the forecasted cloud cover in the U.S.: When exactly will it appear? The sturgeon moon will be visible starting Friday night, Aug. 8, into the early hours of Saturday morning on Aug. 9. The moon will be at its fullest at 3:55 a.m. ET on Saturday, as indicated by EarthSky. What will the cloud cover look like early Saturday? Cloud cover could also be a factor, depending on where you're planning to see the full moon. The map below shows the forecasted cloud cover at 2 a.m. ET on Aug. 9 from the National Weather Service. The areas shaded in gray are expected to have greater cloud cover. Why is it called a 'sturgeon moon,' anyway? Each of the full moons in the calendar year has a name. They are specific to the U.S., because their names come from "Native American, Colonial American and European sources," according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. August's full moon is named after the sturgeon because it's the peak time to catch the giant fish that's native to the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. Sturgeon was an important food staple for Native Americans who lived in that region, the Old Farmer's Almanac explains. The prehistoric-looking fish has been traced back to more than 100 million years ago and consists of 29 species worldwide. Sturgeon are known as a 'living fossil' because of how virtually unchanged they've remained for all this time. Their size can vary widely, from that of a bass to 'nearly as big as a Volkswagen,' according to the University of Michigan. What are the phases of the moon? The moon's cycle lasts for 29.5 days and goes through eight phases during that time: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter and waning crescent. Unlike some other full moons, the sturgeon moon is not considered a supermoon, which occurs when the moon is at its closest distance from Earth, nor a micromoon, designated as such when the moon is at its farthest distance away from Earth. How many more full moons will we see this year? After August, there will be four more full moons this year. There will be supermoons in October, November and December. Here's the list of remaining moons in 2025, according to the Farmers' Almanac: Sept. 7: Corn moon Oct. 6: Harvest moon Nov. 5: Beaver moon Dec. 4: Cold moon
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
August's full moon reaches peak illumination this weekend. The best time to see it and the cloud forecast.
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a … sturgeon? Sky-gazers will be able to enjoy August's spectacular full moon — known as a 'sturgeon moon' — at peak illumination this weekend. For those in North America, it will start Friday night and go into early Saturday, just days ahead of next week's highly anticipated 2025 Perseid meteor shower. Even if you're in a big city with lots of lights, viewers can still see the moon's brilliance overnight Friday into Saturday. An open field or elevated location with an unobstructed view facing the eastern horizon are the best spots for viewing the moon as it rises. Sky-gazers will be able to see the full moon with the naked eye, but binoculars or a telescope will allow them to see the details of the lunar surface. Here's when to see the sturgeon moon and the forecasted cloud cover in the U.S.: When exactly will it appear? The sturgeon moon will be visible starting Friday night, Aug. 8, into the early hours of Saturday morning on Aug. 9. The moon will be at its fullest at 3:55 a.m. ET on Saturday, as indicated by EarthSky. What will the cloud cover look like early Saturday? Cloud cover could also be a factor, depending on where you're planning to see the full moon. The map below shows the forecasted cloud cover at 2 a.m. ET on Aug. 9 from the National Weather Service. The areas shaded in gray are expected to have greater cloud cover. Why is it called a 'sturgeon moon,' anyway? Each of the full moons in the calendar year has a name. They are specific to the U.S., because their names come from "Native American, Colonial American and European sources," according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. August's full moon is named after the sturgeon because it's the peak time to catch the giant fish that's native to the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. Sturgeon was an important food staple for Native Americans who lived in that region, the Old Farmer's Almanac explains. The prehistoric-looking fish has been traced back to more than 100 million years ago and consists of 29 species worldwide. Sturgeon are known as a 'living fossil' because of how virtually unchanged they've remained for all this time. Their size can vary widely, from that of a bass to 'nearly as big as a Volkswagen,' according to the University of Michigan. What are the phases of the moon? The moon's cycle lasts for 29.5 days and goes through eight phases during that time: new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, third quarter and waning crescent. Unlike some other full moons, the sturgeon moon is not considered a supermoon, which occurs when the moon is at its closest distance from Earth, nor a micromoon, designated as such when the moon is at its farthest distance away from Earth. How many more full moons will we see this year? After August, there will be four more full moons this year. There will be supermoons in October, November and December. Here's the list of remaining moons in 2025, according to the Farmers' Almanac: Sept. 7: Corn moon Oct. 6: Harvest moon Nov. 5: Beaver moon Dec. 4: Cold moon Solve the daily Crossword
