28 BBC Sky at Night Magazine August 2021
S
ummertime astronomy
in the UK can be
something of a bleary-
eyed marathon, with
late-night observing
sessions to grasp
anything that seems like darkness
amid the glow of twilight. Every
August, though, we get our reward
for persevering through these
months in the form of the Perseid
meteor shower and this year – if
the skies are clear – we should get
a decent show.
On the night of the shower’s
peak, on 12 August, the Moon sets
at around 22:30 BST (21:30 UT),
which is well before the onset ofastronomical darkness for much of
the country; with no moonlight to
wash out the sky, fainter meteors
will be easier to spot. But what
causes this wonderful celestial
spectacle and what do you need to
do to make the most of it? That’s
what we’re going to tackle over
the following pages.
Meteors begin their lives out in
the depths of space as tiny grains
of dust, known as ‘meteoroids’. If
DQ\RIWKHVHƆHFNVRILQWHUSODQHWDU\
material are unfortunate enough
to hit Earth as they travel around
the Sun, they collide with our
atmosphere at many kilometres
per second and get vaporised inThe peak of this year’s Perseid
meteor shower promises to be a
fine sight under dark skies. Will
Gater gets you ready for the show
Perseid
PERFECTION
WI
LL^ G
ATE
R
>