[ad_1]
Meteor showers happen fairly regularly in one part of the world or another. But there’s one that stands out amongst the rest. That’s the Perseid meteor shower, which begins in mid-July and goes on for about six weeks, with the peak happening in mid-August.
This year, views in the northern hemisphere are expected to begin on July 17th – just two days from now. The event will continue until about August 24th, with the peak on August 12th and 13th.
What is the Perseid meteor shower?
The Perseid meteor shower is made up of small pieces of debris that have fallen from and trail behind the 109P/Swift-Tuttle comet as it nears the sun. It was discovered in 1862 by astronomer Lewis Swift. As the earth passes through Swift-Tuttle’s path, debris collects within our atmosphere.
As it gets caught in our gravity, it hurtles towards the planet. Most pieces burn up on entry, which is what makes the meteors so bright in the sky that we can see them from the ground with the naked eye.
Despite its cause, its name comes from the Perseus constellation. It has nothing to do with the Perseus constellation, except for the fact that this is where the light streaks appear to begin as rocks burn up in the atmosphere.
How to see the Perseid meteor shower
For those in the northern hemisphere, the simple answer is look up. Depending on where you live, the local light pollution and whether or not there’s cloud cover, you might have to travel to see them. Fortunately, they’re going to be around for a few weeks.
They begin on July 17th, peaking between August 12th and 13th. This is handy because August 12th and 13th are Friday and Saturday, respectively. So, even if you go to school or have a regular 9-5 job, you can still stay out late to shoot the stars with your camera.
To help you find it specifically in the sky, there are a number of apps available to help send you in the right direction. Apps like SkySafari even let you type in the name of the constellation you’re looking for – in this case, Perseus. A live camera overlay shows you where it is in the sky. Other apps like Photo Pills and Stellarium also offer excellent features and functionality.
How to photograph the Perseid meteor shower
Photographing meteor showers can be a challenge. You generally need a slow shutter speed to capture the travel of the meteors through the sky. You also typically want a fairly wide-angle lens. This lets you capture a wide area while also keeping the starts as sharp as possible without any movement.
Wide angle lenses don’t let you capture a lot of detail, however, and the meteor showers can often seem quite small. So, you may need to do some super-long exposures in order to capture multiple meteor shower bursts in a single frame and build up a good spread.
For some specific advice on shooting at night, be sure to check out this free Astronomy guide to make it easier to plan and shoot meteor showers. Also, be sure to read these tips for photographing the Milky Way. It pretty much all applies here, too.
[ad_2]
