32 ASTRONOMY • JULY 2018

(200,000 km/h). Usually, Perseid meteors appear white

or bluish white.

In 2018, the New Moon fortuitously occurs

August 11, so our normally brilliant satellite will be

absent during the shower’s peak, which falls on the

night of August 12 and the morning of the 13th. If you

see the Moon at all, it will be a thin crescent low in the

western sky that will set an hour or so after the Sun.

Perhaps the only negative about this year’s Perseids is

C that the peak occurs on a Sunday night into Monday

all your friends. It’s time once again for the annual Perseid

meteor shower, typically the greatest shower of the year.

This event occurs during the Northern Hemisphere sum-

mer, so even many people who don’t consider themselves

astronomers venture outdoors to watch it.

The Perseids feature a slow (two-week) buildup to

maximum (along with an equally slow decline to zero

activity), and many bright meteors that leave luminous

trails visible for several seconds. The trails form because

Perseid meteors are fast — their speeds top 125,000 mph

PAR T Y W ITH THE

This meteor

shower is the most

famous, and in

2018 it will again

be one of amateur

astronomy’s great

social events.

by Michael E. Bakich