August 12, 2024: The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks in the predawn hours this morning in North America. Additionally, three planets and Sirius shine before sunrise. Venus gleams after sunset.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Chicago, Illinois: Sunrise, 5:56 a.m. CDT; Sunset, 7:54 p.m. CDT. Check local sources for sunrise and sunset times. Times are calculated by the US Naval Observatory’s MICA computer program.
Perseid Meteor Shower
The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks in North America during the predawn hours. The moon slips out of the western sky early enough, three hours after sunset yesterday, to remove its interference with a darker sky.
Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle is the progenitor of the debris responsible for the Perseids. It revolves around the sun every 133 years. It most recently passed near the sun in 1992 and is predicted to return in 2125.
From each passage near the sun, ice containing dust evaporates. The gases shine as a bluish tail and are pushed into the depths of the solar system by the solar wind. The dust particles spread along the comet’s path, forming a yellowish tail from reflected sunlight.
The Radiant
Each year, Earth moves through the orbits of the debris particles and they enter the atmosphere from the direction of Perseus the Hero, and are named the Perseids. A meteor shower’s place of origin is known as the radiant. Meteors from the edge of the stream are seen from the end of July through the end of August. The densest part of the debris interacts with Earth during mid-August.
The dust enters the air at high speeds and vaporizes in the upper atmosphere. On the ground sky watchers see shooting stars or falling stars, technically known as meteors.
After the end of evening twilight Perseus is about 30° up in the east-northeast. The best part of the display occurs after midnight and before the beginning of morning twilight, when the radiant is higher in the sky. Perseus is below Cassiopeia the Queen, above the bright star Capella, and to the upper left of the Pleiades star cluster.
A Meteor Watch Party
Perseids can be seen anywhere in the sky, but most are visible near the radiant. To observe the shower, find the darkest location, away from outdoor lighting. The event is social, so a group of five allows looking in different directions for a complete sky count.
If the radiant appeared overhead before sunrise, sky watchers could see 90 meteors per hour. Realistically, 60 can be seen by groups in the darkest locations. The count diminishes as the group number lessens and more outdoor lighting is introduced. In suburban areas, perhaps 15-20 meteors are visible.
Some meteors temporarily leave a short trail, sometimes appearing green for a few seconds.
To be sure that a Perseid is observed, trace the meteor’s path backward. If it goes back toward the radiant, it is likely a Perseid. Random meteors that are not part of the shower and do not trace back to the radiant are known as sporadic meteors, having met their fiery fate by hitting the air.
Should weather blot out the shower, the shower’s high rate is visible for a few mornings.
Here is today’s planet forecast:
Morning Sky
Jupiter and Mars
Two mornings before their conjunction, Jupiter and Mars are visible in the east-northeast. Rising over 5 hours before sunrise, the planet pair is nicely placed in the eastern sky before sunrise.
One hour before daybreak, bright Jupiter is nearly halfway up in the east-southeast. It is plodding eastward in front of Taurus, between the Bull’s horns. Dimmer Mars is 1.1° to Jupiter’s upper right. The Red Planet is about the same brightness and color as the star Aldebaran, Taurus’ brightest, 7.1° to the right.
Watch Mars pass Jupiter and march away.
Mars passed Saturn on April 10th and traveled eastward toward the impending Jupiter conjunction. The gap is nearly 88° to the Ringed Wonder.
Morning Saturn
At this hour Saturn is about one-third of the way up in the southwest. As opposition approaches in less than a month, the planet rises about 70 minutes after sunset, appears to move westward during the night, and shines from the southwest before sunrise.
The planet is retrograding in front of a dim Aquarius’ starfield. This morning the star Fomalhaut, part of the Southern Fish, is 10° above the horizon and to Saturn’s lower left.
Sirius Heliacal Rising
At Chicago’s latitude, Sirius is at its heliacal rising this morning, the theoretical date when the star is visible under clear, unobstructed conditions. At forty minutes before daybreak, it is low in the east-southeast.
Use a binocular to identify Betelgeuse and Procyon, to stars in the Winter Triangle. Their separation shows the scale of this triangle. Look for Sirius at the third apex of this imaginary shape. If you can see it without a binocular’s optical assist, the star is at its heliacal rising for your location, meaning it was visible. Visibility is the key to declaring the first morning appearance occurred. Look each clear morning until it is visible without the optical assist.
The moon reaches First Quarter phase at 10:20 a.m. Central Time.
Evening Sky
Mercury is overtaking Earth, passing between our planet and the sun in less than a week.
Venus
Venus is low in the west after sundown. At 30 minutes after sunset, it is less than 5° above the horizon. It is bright enough to appear without any optical help, but use a binocular to initially find it.
After sundown, the moon, is less than 20° up in the south-southwest. It is over 10° to Zubenelgenubi’s lower left and 7.6° to Dschubba’s lower right, the Scorpion’s crown or forehead. Setting 3 hours, 30 minutes after nightfall, Perseids can be seen again after midnight and before the beginning of morning twilight, less than two hours before daybreak.
Evening Saturn
Saturn rises 71 minutes after sunset. An hour later it is less than 10° above the east-southeast horizon.
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