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EfstonScience is Canada’s largest retailer of science and astronomy products. Our Science SuperStore in Toronto is packed with thousands of innovative, hard-to-find products to inspire the scientist in everyone.
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August is well known as the month where the evenings start getting a little longer, a little cooler (one hopes!) in the evenings and a time to enjoy that one last month at the cottage or familiar events such as the CNE as we start the slow transition from the summer to fall. Of course, and unbeknown to many, there is a regular visitor in August. The Perseid Meteor Shower!
They are caused by the interaction of Earth’s atmosphere and the trail of debris caused by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Every year in August, Earth passes through an area of debris long left by the comet. Most of this material or “dust” is about a thousand years old. For more information on the meteor shower, check out what Wikipedia has to say.
When going out to observe the Perseids, you want to look towards the “radiant” or where the meteors “appear to come from”. That radiant is in the direction of the constellation Perseus, hence the name of the meteor shower. If you are unfamiliar with the night sky, a planisphere or “star wheel” is very helpful to guide you to Perseus which is rising in the Northeast just east, or below the familiar constellation, Cassiopeia. Planispheres are inexpensive star charts that cost around fifteen to twenty dollars. We offer such a product such as the Firefly Planisphere, a necessary tool to learn the night sky.
The best time to view the meteor shower is after midnight local time. Perseus will be higher in the sky towards 1:00am. Optical aid is not required to view the meteor shower, but if you do have a pair of 50mm or larger binoculars, you also might want to look for the Perseus Double Cluster (NGC 884 and NGC 869) just below Cassiopeia. A wonderful sight in any binocular or small telescope!
