The Perseids will be visible for more than a month
The time for the brightest astronomical spectacle of the summer is coming to the capital region. From July 17 to August 24, Muscovites and residents of the Moscow region will be able to observe one of the most famous and abundant meteor showers of the year, the Perseids, in the night sky.
As it became known «MK», the peak of the meteor shower will be on August 12 — on this day, even the light of the Moon will not interfere with observations, since the Earth's satellite will disappear behind the horizon around midnight. Astronomers recommend looking for meteors just around midnight, and it is advisable to go out of town so that the sky above is clear. Then observers will be able to see up to 150 meteors per hour.
The name Perseids comes from the constellation Perseus, from which the meteors seem to fly out. Flashes of light are formed as a result of the Earth passing through a trail of dust particles released by comet 109/Swift-Tuttle. Each of them is the size of a grain of sand. They burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, forming bright tracks.
Meteor showers repeat strictly every other year, because the orbits of the Earth and the shower have an invariable area of intersection with each other.