The Perseid meteor shower, which is the most spectacular of the eight meteor showers that occurs eight times a year, will peak on the night between Aug. 12-13, and between 60-100 meteors per hour can be sighted from high altitudes areas in the country.
Popularly known as "shooting stars" to the public, the meteorites, whose speed of entry into the Earth's atmosphere will reach 59 kilometers per second (37 miles per second), will provide a spectacle resembling fireballs.
According to the 2023 Celestial Events Yearbook prepared by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK) and National Observatory (TUG), meteor shower events – some of which date back thousands of years – are made up of remnants left by comets after their transits, and occur eight times a year in the world. These are called Quadrantid (Quarter), Lyrid (Instrument), Eta Aquarid (Eta Aquarius), Delta Aquarid (Delta Aquarius), Perseid (Hero-Perce), Orionid (Hunter), Leonid (Lion) and Geminid (Gemini).
The most striking of the meteor showers, which are formed by the meteorites entering the atmosphere at extremely high speeds and burning as a result of friction, is the Perseid (Perse) meteorite event, which starts on July 14 and will last until Sept. 1. The most intense day of Perseid will be the night of Aug. 12-13 this year.
Preparing TUG's 2022 Celestial Events Yearbook, professor Faruk Soydugan and chief specialist Tuncay Özışık, for the first time, chronicled meteorites for this year's issue.
"The Perseid shower is one of the most intense and impressive natural light shows ever observed in the Northern Hemisphere. The meteor shower is caused by the gravitational effect of the Earth's gravitational pull on a large number of rocks and dust particles, the core of which is separated from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, whose core is 26 kilometers in diameter. Comet Swift-Tuttle completes its orbit around the sun in 133 years. The starting point of meteors, which started on July 14 and can be observed until Sept. 1, falls in the Perse (Hero) Constellation region. The coordinates of the exit point are right aperture equal to 48 degrees, and vertical aperture equals plus 58 degrees."
"The fact that the moon will rise at about 3 a.m. on this date and only 10% of it will appear bright increases the probability of catching a glimpse of the impressive meteor shower. Perseids also have larger traces of light, also called fireballs, whose luminosity reaches minus 3 magnitudes. In this shower, the entry speed of meteorites into the Earth's atmosphere will be around 59 kilometers per second. To observe the Perseids, it will be enough to turn our eyes to the sky in a region, but far from artificial lights, between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time."
In order to watch the Perseid meteor shower, many enthusiasts have already prepared plans to both photograph and watch the natural spectacle with the naked eye in areas far from city lights.
