The Perseid meteor shower is the most colorful of the starfalls that can be observed in the Northern Hemisphere. It is formed by the tail of a comet, which itself approaches the Earth only once every hundred years, however, our planet passes through its tail annually. And therefore, every August we can watch this beautiful sight. Surely you are interested and want to see him! Unfortunately, we will not be able to observe the 2013 Perseid meteor shower, however there is enough
time to prepare well for next August.
Observation history
Perseid meteor shower has been observed by people in different parts of the Earth since ancient times. The first reliable mention of it is contained in the Chinese chronicles of 36 AD, where it is written about hundreds of stars falling from the sky. Such information is regularly found in the records of East Asian chroniclers from the 8th to the 12th centuries of our era. However, after this mention of starfall is becoming less common. In medieval Europe, the Perseid meteor shower was identified with St. Lawrence, since it was in August that the festival of his name was held in Italy.
Scientific research
In the 19th century, astronomers took on the meteor shower of Perseids. So, in 1835, the Belgian Adolf Quetelet was the first to indicate that the starfall has a strict periodicity. In 1839, the German mathematician and astronomer determined the antiaircraft hourly number of the stream, which was estimated at 160 meteors. Actually, from the middle of the XIX century, constant observations of the phenomenon of astronomers from around the world begin.
Interestingly, in some years - 1861, 1864 - its intensity was noticeably higher than in the rest. Trying to find the reasons for this fact, scientists found that the Perseids are the brainchild of one of the comets, which has a long orbit of revolution around the Earth. In fact, these are parts of her tail, consisting of small stones and ice. And during the periods of its approach to our planet, accordingly, the intensity of particles entering into its atmosphere and burning here increased. It was discovered in 1867 by the Italian Giovanni Sciparelli.
The minimum activity of the stream was recorded in 1911, when only four meteors were recorded. However, after that it began to rise again and in 1920 unexpectedly increased sharply, amounting to as many as 200 meteors per hour. In subsequent decades, the intensity, as a rule, did not exceed 65 meteors. Next maximum peak
observed already in 1981. And he was associated with a new gradual approach of the comet to Earth, which occurred in December 1992. As the reader guesses, after that the activity of the meteor shower again began to decline. Its antiaircraft hourly number almost never exceeded 60 meteors every hour. Their maximum number, as a rule, falls on August 11-12.
The 2013 meteor showers, of course, were not particularly intense, whatever they might be, now the comet is closer to Earth. How they will not reach their maximum next year. But at the same time, this starfall remains the most spectacular spectacle that we can observe in the Northern Hemisphere throughout the year.