Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News

~ John W. Howell
The Perseid Meteor Shower By Bill Dickinson, CC license

 

Today’s good news is from the Good News Network.

The Most Active Meteor Shower of the Year Arrives in Just 5 Days’ Time

ByAndy Corbley–

The most prolific meteor shower of the year will be at its peak on the morning of August 12th, when 150 shooting stars can be seen per hour in the Northern Hemisphere.

The meteors are called the Perseids because they appear from the general direction of the constellation Perseus, but in modern times, they have shifted to radiate on the border between Cassiopeia and Camelopardalis.

According to Valerie at Space Tourism Guide, the Perseids Meteor Shower occurs when the Earth passes through a stream of debris left by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.

Special conditions permit us to see the debris every August, even though the comet has a 133-year orbit around the Earth.

In a slight case of misfortune, there will be a quarter Moon in the sky that night, meaning that in already light-polluted areas with few stars, the Moon will make it slightly more difficult to see the meteorites.

However if one can position themselves in a rural-enough area with dark skies and plenty of visible stars, our solitary satellite won’t dampen the meteor shower too much at all. In fact, it might even make for a spectacular image.

A few other additional events are in the night sky this month, such as the close approach of the Moon and Mars on August 27th. They will appear just 5° apart, and both be present in the skies surrounding the constellation Taurus.

This is a great opportunity for those interested in learning more about their cosmic environment or as a crash course for little ones on how to find the Red Planet in the sky.

On the YouTube channel Learn the Sky, there’s a great guide for how to find Taurus in the night sky. Convenient to this article, it’s just under Perseus, where the meteor shower will arrive from this month. Also included in the Taurus sector is a famous deep-space object known from ancient times called the Pleides, also known as the Seven Sisters.

The good news is that we have the opportunity to observe a natural occurrence. Today’s JohnKu talks about nature. I hope you have a terrific weekend.

Opportunity by John W. Howell © 2024

Nature is a show,

If we know what to look for . . .

Always takes the breath.

 

63 thoughts on “Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF – Fri-Yay/Good News”

  1. Thanks for reminding of this. In northern Sweden, where I am originally from it is very easy to see meteors. However, I’ve seen a lot of great ones here in Dallas too. You’ve got to keep you eyes on the sky.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Thanks, dear John, for telling us. We live in a dark-sky-area so we’ll be able to see these meteors. We are looking forward to this.
    Wishing you an easy weekend
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Dear John

        we are not far north enough to have aurora borealis in summer. We only see it in winter. But, of course, we need a clear sky.

        Liked by 1 person

  11. If this storm passes through we might be able to see this. It’s fairly dark here if we get away from the street lamps. It’s amazing to think that our prehistorical grandparents probably knew almost as much about the constellations as we do (without the telescope!),

    Liked by 1 person

  13. You can already see some or my camera did while I was out shooting the stars last week. The Moon sets just after 11PM on the 11th going into the 12th so it’s doable for me to get out again with my camera to shoot the stars and have no moon to brighten up the sky.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. The night sky always takes my breath away. So beautiful! Thank you for this informative post, John. Loved it! ✨

    Like

  19. Fun post, John. It makes me think about how we need to stop more to appreciate the beauty around us. I also remembered a summer camp I worked at when I was 18. I had a group of six kids, and we were on a campout in a wilderness area. We slept under the stars and watched shooting stars flying by. It would have been about the same time of the year.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. This is my favorite one to watch. I’ve seen some spectacular meteors streaking across the sky over the years 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  26. I know it’s not the same as that April showers business promising May flowers, but maybe this storm can put in a good word for us regarding more agreeable weather. Just saying . . .

    Liked by 1 person

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