Perseids: guide to enjoy the tears of San Lorenzo, the night with the most shooting stars

Observing the Perseids, one of the most anticipated astronomical shows of the summer, does not require NASA instruments or any scientific knowledge: it is enough to get away from the light pollution of large cities, stop looking at your mobile for about 10 minutes so that the view adapts to the darkness and delight contemplating the night sky. “One thing we recommend is to see the meteor shower lying down on some horizontal surface, because by standing for a long time looking up you end up with fatal neck pain,” jokes astrophysicist Javier Armentia, director of the Pamplona Planetary Astronomical Observatory, at the Navarrese capital.

From the second half of July to the end of August, this meteor shower, also known as the Perseids, occurs. Specifically, the maximum to be able to see the astroshow is at dawn on the night of August 12 to 13, as reported by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). This cosmic phenomenon, where more particles can be seen colliding with Earth’s atmosphere than usual, has its origin in the 26-kilometer-wide comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, discovered in 1862, as explained by astrophysicist Pablo Pérez González, of the Center for Astrobiology of the CSIC. And he adds: “the Moon will be in the waning quarter on that date, the new moon is on August 16, so 2023 will be very propitious to see the great summer meteor shower.”

The Perseids are the gas and solid particles that break off from the comet’s tail in each of its orbits around the Sun, every 133 years. When the Earth enters the dust cloud that the comet leaves as a trail in space, the particles that enter the Earth’s atmosphere are the summer meteor shower. Particles sometimes as small as a grain of sand that, due to such a sudden impact with the atmosphere and the high temperature in fractions of a second, disintegrate and their flash is what can be observed.

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Given the optimal conditions in terms of darkness and clarity of the sky, an average citizen can see between 50 and 100 shooting stars per hour, says Armentia. “It is the night of the year that more stars are going to be seen, there are people who expect a continuous downpour”, clarifies the director, “but the correct attitude to see them is to be surprised, those few that you manage to see at the moment in which You look at the sky, it’s already wonderful.”

It is the night of the year with the most shooting stars; there are people who expect a continuous downpour, but the correct attitude is to be surprised

Javier Armentia, astrophysicist and director of the Pamplona Planetarium

Like every summer, Armentia organizes an event to popularize science, which this year will be in the town of Puente de la Reina, a municipality 20 minutes from the capital of Pamplona. The locality has collaborated with the scientists of the observatory in the installation of a lighting network that does not project upwards, so that it is as sustainable as possible and less in conflict with the night, which are known as “special protection zones of the night sky”, details the scientist.

The initiative that is included within the project of the Starlight Foundation that was launched in La Palma by the IAC in 2007. The least populated Spain has “a potential worth claiming” in the fight against light pollution, points out the astrophysicist: “Empty Spain is the one with the best sky, something that becomes valuable for stargazing.”

Night brightness increases by 10% per year, the composition shows the sky in different terrestrial environments depending on light pollution.NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, P. Marenfeld

Darkness is the best recommendation so as not to miss the celestial spectacle. Hence, Armentia joins the criticism against the proliferation of light pollution in recent decades in cities and their surroundings, as well as the increase in private satellites in orbit that hinder scientific work and observation. For the astrophysicist this has been a clear setback: “Since the 1990s the quality of the sky has worsened; even to be able to see the Milky Way, people who are already of an age remember when we used to go to town, but you ask the little kids in the planetarium, they say no”.

A type of pollution that disturbs animal life, which also includes human health, since constant light exposure alters the circadian rhythm and the intestinal microbiome of people. “We don’t proselytize, but the truth is that it is a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of the Perseids to talk about how beautiful the night sky is,” concludes the director of the observatory.

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