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}}The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle. The meteors are called the Perseids because the point from which they appear to hail (called the radiant) lies in the constellation Perseus.
Etymology
The name is derived from the word Perseidai (Greek : Περσείδαι), the sons of Perseus in Greek mythology.
Characteristics
The stream of debris is called the Perseid cloud and stretches along the orbit of the comet Swift–Tuttle. The cloud consists of particles ejected by the comet as it travels on its 133-year orbit.[1] Most of the particles have been part of the cloud for around a thousand years. However, there is also a relatively young filament of dust in the stream that was pulled off the comet in 1865, which can give an early mini-peak the day before the maximum shower.[2] The dimensions of the cloud in the vicinity of the Earth are estimated to be approximately 0.1 astronomical units (AU) across and 0.8 AU along the latter's orbit, spread out by annual interactions with the Earth's gravity.[3]
The shower is visible from mid-July each year, with the peak in activity between 9 and 14 August, depending on the particular location of the stream. During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour. They can be seen all across the sky; however, because of the shower's radiant in the constellation of Perseus, the Perseids are primarily visible in the Northern Hemisphere.[4] As with many meteor showers the visible rate is greatest in the pre-dawn hours, since more meteoroids are scooped up by the side of the Earth moving forward into the stream, corresponding to local times between midnight and noon, as can be seen in the accompanying diagram.[5] While many meteors arrive between dawn and noon, they are usually not visible due to daylight. Some can also be seen before midnight, often grazing the Earth's atmosphere to produce long bright trails and sometimes fireballs. Most Perseids burn up in the atmosphere while at heights above {{convert|80|km|mi}}.[13]
| Year | Perseids active between | Peak of shower | | 2018 | July 17 – August 24 | August 11–13[6] (ZHRmax 60) |
| 2017 | July 17 – August 24 | August 12[7] |
| 2016 | July 17 – August 24 | August 11–12 [8] (ZHRmax 150) |
| 2015 | July 17 – August 24 | August 12–13[9] (ZHRmax 95) (New moon Aug 14) |
| 2014 | July 17 – August 24 | August 13 (ZHRmax 68)[10] (Full moon Aug 10) |
| 2013 | July 17 – August 24 | August 12 (ZHRmax 109)[11] |
| 2012 | July 17 – August 24 | August 12 (ZHRmax 122)[12] |
| 2011 | July 17 – August 24 | August 12 (ZHRmax 58)[13] (Full moon Aug 13)[14] |
| 2010 | July 23 – August 24 | August 12 (ZHRmax 142)[15] |
| 2009 | July 14 – August 24 | August 13 (ZHRmax 173) (the estimated peak was 173,[16] but fainter meteors were washed out by a gibbous Moon.) |
| 2008 | July 25 – August 24[17] | August 13 (ZHRmax 116)[17] |
| 2007 | July 19 – August 25[18] | August 13 (ZHRmax 93)[18] |
| 2006 | August 12/13 (ZHRmax 100)[19] |
| 2005 | August 12 (ZHR max 90[20])[21] |
| 2004 | | August 12 (ZHRmax >200)[6] |
| 1994 | | (ZHRmax >200)[22] |
| 1993 | | (ZHRmax 200–500)[22] |
| 1992 | | August 11 outburst under an August 13 full moon[23] |
| 1883 | August 9 or earlier[36] | August 11 (ZHRmax 43)[24] |
| 1864 | | (ZHRmax >100)[22] |
| 1863 | | (ZHRmax 109–215)[22] |
| 1861 | | (ZHRmax 78–102)[22] |
| 1858 | | (ZHRmax 37–88)[22] |
| 1839 | | (ZHRmax 165)[22] |
Historical observations and associations
Some Catholics refer to the Perseids as the "tears of Saint Lawrence", suspended in the sky but returning to earth once a year on August 10, the canonical date of that saint's martyrdom in 258 AD.[25]
The saint is said to have been burned alive on a gridiron, and this tradition is almost certainly the origin of the Mediterranean folk legend that the shooting stars are the sparks of that fire and that during the night of August 9–10 its cooled embers appear in the ground under plants, and which are known as the "coal of Saint Lawrence".[26][27]
The transition in favor of the Catholic saint and his feast day on August 10 and away from pagan gods and their festivals, known as Christianization, was facilitated by the phonetic assonance of the Latin name Laurentius with Larentia.[28][29]
In 1835, Adolphe Quetelet identified the shower as emanating from the constellation Perseus.[30][22]
In 1866, after the perihelion passage of Swift-Tuttle in 1862, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli discovered the link between meteor showers and comets. The finding is contained in an exchange of letters with Angelo Secchi.
In popular culture
In his song "Rocky Mountain High", American singer-songwriter John Denver refers to his experience watching the Perseid meteor shower during a family camping trip in the mountains near Aspen, Colorado, with the chorus lyric, "I've seen it raining fire in the sky."
In the popular Japanese band Sandaime J Soul Brothers's song "R.Y.U.S.E.I" (Meteor), they describe the Perseid meteor as falling like an evening rain shower – its shooting stars like raindrops pulling their tails behind them.
In the song “RPG,” by Japanese band Sekai no Owari, the narrator mentions watching the Perseid meteor shower on the night something “precious to them fell apart.”
In his novel Against the Day, American novelist Thomas Pynchon refers to the Perseid meteor showers being watched by three characters west of the Dolores Valley after playing a game of tarot.
References
{{Clear}}1. ^{{cite web|author=Dan Vergano|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2013/08/08/perseids-2013-meteor/2628521/ |title=Perseid meteor shower to light up night sky this weekend |publisher=Usatoday.com |date=2010-08-07 |accessdate=2013-08-12}}
2. ^{{Cite web |title = The 2004 Perseid Meteor Shower |date = June 25, 2004 |author = Dr. Tony Phillips |publisher = Science@NASA |accessdate = 2010-03-12 |url = https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/25jun_perseids2004.htm |deadurl = yes |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100320071509/http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/25jun_perseids2004.htm |archivedate = March 20, 2010 |df = }}
3. ^{{Cite book| title = The Cosmic Dust Connection| editor = J. Mayo Greenberg| date = 1996| publisher = Springer Science & Business Media| article = Cometary Dust Loss: Meteoroid Streams and the Inner Solar System Dust Cloud| author= D.W. Hughes| page = 375| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=5MH0CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA375}}
4. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/perseid.html|publisher=timeanddate.com|title=Perseids Meteor Shower 2018|accessdate=2018-07-30}}
5. ^http://meteorshowersonline.com/what_is.html
6. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.space.com/32868-perseid-meteor-shower-guide.html|publisher=Space.com|title=Perseid Meteor Shower 2018: When, Where & How to See It|author=Sarah Lewin|date=July 9, 2018|accessdate=20 July 2018}}
7. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.space.com/32868-perseid-meteor-shower-guide.html|publisher=Space.com|title=Perseid Meteor Shower 2017: When, Where & How to See It|author=Sarah Lewin|date=July 26, 2017|accessdate=27 July 2017}}
8. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/watchtheskies/perseid-meteor-shower-aug11-12.html|title=Perseid Meteor Shower 2016: When, Where & How to See It|access-date=2016-07-18}}
9. ^{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/asteroids/best-meteor-showers/ |title=Meteor Showers 2015 |publisher=NASA |accessdate=2015-08-09}}
10. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2014/ |title=Perseids 2014: visual data quicklook |publisher=Imo.net |date=2014-08-13 |accessdate=2014-08-13 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024040047/http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2014/ |archivedate=2016-10-24 |df= }}
11. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2013/ |title=Perseids 2013: visual data quicklook |publisher=Imo.net |date=2013-09-23 |accessdate=2014-04-20 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024034856/http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2013/ |archivedate=2016-10-24 |df= }}
12. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2012/ |title=Perseids 2012: visual data quicklook |publisher=Imo.net |date=2012-10-22 |accessdate=2014-04-20 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421081813/http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2012/ |archivedate=2014-04-21 |df= }}
13. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2011/ |title=Perseids 2011: visual data quicklook |publisher=Imo.net |date=2011-10-06 |accessdate=2014-04-20 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106001831/http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2011/ |archivedate=2013-11-06 |df= }}
14. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-385 |title=How to See the Best Meteor Showers of the Year: Tools, Tips and 'Save the Dates' |publisher=nasa.gov |accessdate=2010-11-16}}
15. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-119 |title=How to See the Best Meteor Showers of the Year: Tools, Tips and 'Save the Dates' |publisher=nasa.gov |accessdate=2010-08-12}}
16. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2009/ |title=Perseids 2009: visual data quicklook |publisher=Imo.net |date=2010-04-26 |accessdate=2009-08-11 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161016083404/http://imo.net/live/perseids2009/ |archivedate=2016-10-16 |df= }}
17. ^1 {{cite web |url=http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2008/ |title=Perseids 2008: visual data quicklook |publisher=Imo.net |date=2009-06-06 |accessdate=2009-08-11 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024035510/http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2008/ |archivedate=2016-10-24 |df= }}
18. ^1 Perseids 2007: first results {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927041829/http://www.imo.net/live/perseids2007/ |date=2011-09-27 }}
19. ^EAAS
20. ^http://www.imo.net/perseids-2005-visual/
21. ^https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/22jul_perseids2005
22. ^1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 {{cite web|url=http://meteorshowersonline.com/perseids.html |title=Observing the Perseids |publisher=Meteor Showers Online |author=Gary W. Kronk |author-link=Gary W. Kronk |accessdate=2009-08-12}}
23. ^{{cite journal |last1=Brown |title=The Perseids 1992. New outburst announces return of P/Swift-Tuttle |bibcode=1992JIMO...20..192B}}
24. ^1 {{cite journal |last1=Corder |first1=H |title=1883Obs.....6..338C Page 338 |journal=adsabs.harvard.edu |date=22 October 1883 |url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1883Obs.....6..338C |accessdate=3 November 2018}}
25. ^{{cite news |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,729450,00.html |title=Science: Tears of St. Lawrence |publisher=TIME |date=1926-08-23 |accessdate=2009-08-12}}
26. ^{{it}} Falling stars and coal under the basil
27. ^{{it}} The Coal of Saint Lawrence
28. ^{{it}} Castrum Inui
29. ^{{cite news |url=http://utestudents.blogspot.it/2015/08/summer-sky-4.html |title=SHOOTING STARS |publisher= utestudents BLOG}}
30. ^1 {{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/677215main_Perseids2012.pdf |title=NASA Chat: Stay ‘Up All Night’ to Watch the Perseids! |publisher=NASA |author= Dr. Bill Cooke |author2= Danielle Moser |author3= Rhiannon Blaauw |last-author-amp= yes| page=55|date=2012-08-11|accessdate=2013-08-16}}
31. ^1 2 {{citation | display-authors=1 | last1=Żołądek | first1=P. | last2=Wiśniewski | first2=M. | last3=Olech | first3=A. | last4=Krasnowski | first4=M. | last5=Kwinta | first5=M. | last6=Fietkiewicz | first6=K. | last7=Złoczewski | first7=K. | last8=Mularczyk | first8=K. | last9=Jonderko | first9=W. | last10=Spaleniak | first10=I. | last11=Gruszka | first11=Ł. | title=The 2004 Perseid meteor shower – Polish Fireball Network double station preliminary results | journal=Journal of the International Meteor Organization | volume=37 | issue=5 | pages=161–163 |date=October 2009 | bibcode=2009JIMO...37..161Z}}
32. ^1 {{cite web |date=2012-08-11 |title=NASA All Sky Fireball Network: Perseid End Height |publisher=NASA Meteor Watch on Facebook |url=https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=402054346520464 |accessdate=2012-11-19}}