Perseid Meteor Shower 2021

The Perseid radiant

The Perseids are upon us, literally. As the Earth sweeps around the Sun in its orbit, we gently glide through a region of space dust and debris, the remnants of a comet that passes through Earth's orbit every 133 years or so. And lucky for us, all of this debris is far too small to cause any damage to us on Earth, but big enough to light up the night sky every year. 

The Perseid Meteor shower in 2021 takes place over a two-day window on 11-12 August (through the morning of August 13th). The peak is expected to be late on the night of August 11th-12th. At the peak with very clear skies and dark conditions, you could see up to a meteor per minute. But that is an average, and sometimes you can have many minutes go by without any meteors, and then suddenly 2 or 3 all at once. So the best way to see the Perseids is to be patient, find a location with a broad horizon, and my favorite thing -- to do this in a group (even a group of two will do) since more eyes will see more meteors. I enjoy setting up the group to be looking in all different directions so we don't miss any meteors and even though no one person will see 100% of the meteors, we can all enjoy the excitement and fun with friends. Having a comfortable lounge chair and a blanket are a bonus and will enhance your viewing. 

As with every meteor shower, the viewing gets better after midnight when more meteors are flying into the atmosphere, so get lots of rest the night before and be ready for a long, relaxing night viewing one of the best meteor showers of the year. 

Lucky for us, we have a dark night for viewing the meteors, as the Moon is just a few days past New Moon phase and will set early in the evening. No light from the Moon makes the whole experience better. 

This article from Sky and Telescope is an excellent overview of the Perseids, not only tips how to best observe the shower, but why it happens every year and other interesting science. 

Image courtesy Sky and Telescope. 

Total Lunar Eclipse of 26 May 2021 - with a Supermoon!

Eclipse Details (universal time)

This week the Moon will slip into the Earth's shadow for a brief but exciting total lunar eclipse while the Moon is at its nearest to Earth, what we call a Supermoon. By chance, this week I am in New Orleans and will be able to see some of the partial eclipse in the pre-dawn hours. But those further west in the United States will have a chance to see the total phase as well. This interactive map from Time & Day is quite helpful. Just search for your city and you will have the local timeline for the eclipse as visible from your location. I typed in San Francisco and see that the eclipse starts at 2:45 am, reaches totality at 4:11 am, and exits totality at 4:26 am. This is a very short eclipse, as the Moon just grazes inside of the dark (penumbral) shadow of the Earth. But it should be no less exciting to see, and if you don't mind a little time awake in the middle of the night, it should be an impressive sight. 

More can be found in this Sky & Telescope article, as well as this Earth-Sky article. 

Happy Viewing, and clear skies! 

Image courtesy of Sky & Telescope. 

Red-Orange Stars and a Planet: Betelgeuse, Aldebaran and Mars

Mars is making a splash in the evening sky this winter, and it's near two stars that appear quite similar in color and brightness. Mars is presently in the constellation Aries, which is next to the next Zodiac constellation Taurus and the bright orange-giant star Aldebaran. The two objects are quite similar and at a glance, one can see the colors shining through. But if you move just a little further east along the line that connects Mars to Aldeberan, you will find the bright red-supergiant star Betelgeuse, which marks the upper left shoulder of the giant constellation Orion. Betelgeuse is one of the largest objects in the Milky Galaxy, a truly giant star that would encompass the orbits of the planets nearly out to Saturn if it was in the same place as our Sun. 

Mars is slowly working its way eastward across the sky, such that in a few weeks it will be very close to the Pleiades and continue its march across Taurus and then through Cancer. Mars has had a busy year, with its closest approach to Earth last year and now getting ready to host three new spacecraft that will land there in the coming days, the UAE Hope spacecraft, the Chinese Tianwen-1 spacecraft, and the NASA Perseverance lander with a new rover ready for further exploration and discovery on Mars. 

Image courtesy Sky & Telescope.