Perseids Meteor Shower: Heres all You Need to Know about it

The Perseids, one of the most popular meteor shower is set to reach its peak in India. Its coming very very soon – on the nights of August 12 and 13.

The sky will light up for you for 2 nights in a row over the weekend. Here’s all you need to know about this meteor shower.

So what is Perseids Meteor Shower?

First of all, meteor showers are cosmic debris. Sizing from grain of sand to larger than a city. Theres a group of this debris in our solar system, revolving our Sun. When after a particular time, some of this debris (mostly tiny) approach earths atmosphere, they burns due to intense friction and lights. Thats the phenomenon sometimes called shooting stars. Those bigger debris develops into fireballs.

The Perseids originate from the Perseus constellation. They are tiny space debris made from the comet Swift-Tuttle, which is the largest object known to make repeated passes near the earth. One more interesting thing about thise shower is, its quite fast compared to others with speed upto 60 km/s.

You can expect upto 60 to 100 meteors to be visible every hour.

Right time to See Perseids Meteor Shower in India?

The shower occurs every year between July 17 and August 24, and tends to peak around August 9 to 13. And this year, its said to be visible in India between the nights of August 11-12 and August 12-13 – will be underway after midnight.

But out of this two nights the showers would be brightest on August 12 to 13.

Heres how to see 2018’s Perseids Meteor Shower in India?

Being brightest meteor shower of 2018 you would not need any stargazing equipment to watch it. Your unaided eyes are just enough to see it all. Fortunately moon will also not ruin the business as it will be in its crescent phase.

Heres the simple thing to do; Just get away from the bright city lights. Forest like place. Allow 20 minutes for you eyes to get used to the darkness – just be patient!

You may gather a group of friends and sit in different directions – so easier to spot the radiant, i.e. the spot in the sky where all the meteors radiate from.

Top locations to see the Perseids shower in India

The best bet would be to visit places that are neither too polluted and nor too populated. However, the Perseids meteor shower is so bright that it is actually visible through lightly polluted skies.

No fix for killer cloudy sky. Can get to a clear sky location though!

Heres the deal; find a clear sky place with visible horizon to horizon. You need as much sky visible as possible. Its weekend days. Try gathering a few interested friends in.

And heres the few popular places in India to get you started:

1. North India
Dharamshala
Parvati Valley
Leh
Mount Abu

2. South India
Nandi Hills
Hampi
Turahalli Forest
Ramanagara

3. East India
Gandikota
Darjeeling
Tawang
Diphu

4. West India
Bhandardara
Kutch
Bikaner
Ranakpur

Really sorry for this delayed update.

Yet still if you have anything to say or ask, just get back to us in comment below!

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