The starry night awaits us. Already on the night of August 12/13, we will see a meteor shower in the night sky – and without specialized equipment. And that’s not all. Soon after this event, we will be able to admire the supermoon. When do you watch Perseids 2023? Where is the best place to observe them? What astronomical phenomena await us in August? check.
The holiday months, namely July and August, are associated by many people not only with excursions and rest, but also with unusual astronomical phenomena. One of them is the Perseids, one of the most regular meteor showers, whose orbit crosses Earth’s orbit every year.
The most spectacular scene is the weekend on the night of August 12/13.
This is when maximum swarming occurs. However, if someone is not able to admire the Perseids, then they can look into the night sky on August 11 or 14 – shooting stars can also be seen on these days, but the frequency of their appearance may be less.
Thanks to the frequent flashes of meteorites passing through the Earth, the impression is that the sky is strewn with shooting stars. And most importantly, you don’t need any special equipment to watch it. Many of them can be seen with the naked eye or with ordinary binoculars. With good vision, up to 100 flames can be seen within an hour.
To see the falling Perseids, it’s best to go somewhere with little artificial light. Darkness, the period of the new moon and the absence of clouds make it visible to the naked eye. For more advanced observation, you can of course use a telescope or binoculars. There’s also a chance of seeing meteors a lot more than downtown, as the streets are lit up with lanterns and neon lights, among other things.
You can also take advantage of Online mapsShows the level of light pollution. It makes it easy to find less populated or darker places, ideal for observing Perseids 2023 at night. White and purple represent highly exposed areas. In contrast, red, yellow, green, and blue are marked as places where observation should bring more satisfaction.
A night of falling stars can be combined with a trip out of town. From Kraków, in less than an hour we will reach the Ojców National Park, Lanckorona or the Niepołomice Forest, where there is much less light and thus we will increase the chance of seeing the Perseids in their full glory.
August this year is full of unusual astronomical phenomena. Well, on August 1, we can see a beautiful moon that has approached Earth at a distance of 363,815 km (the farthest distance of the Moon from Earth is 406,700 km), on August 12-13 the Night of the Perseids falls, and finally, on August 31, we will see another full – This time the super moon will approach us at 363.667 km. This means that we will be able to admire her armor in all its splendor, which looks much larger than usual. This is an unusual phenomenon because two full moons in one month occur on average once every 33 months.
In addition, during the month you can observe not only the stars and the moon. In August, we will also see the planets several times with the naked eye. This will happen at night when the moon is visible in the sky right next to them:
- August 4 in conjunction with Neptune
- August 8 in conjunction with Uranus
- August 19 in conjunction with Mars
- August 30 in conjunction with Saturn
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