Meteors
Perseids
General data
| Shower | Perseids |
|---|---|
| IAU Shower Number | 7 |
| IMO Acronym | PER |
| Activity interval | Jul 16 - Aug 26 |
| Date of maximum in 2010 | August 13 03h UT |
| Geocentric Velocity | 59 km/s |
| Population index | 2.6 |
Notes:
- Population index gives the magnitude distribution of the shower meteors: indexes below 2.5 correspond to distributions where bright meteors are more frequent than average, while values over 3.0 mean that the fraction of faint meteors is larger than usual.
Description
The most popular shower, although not always the strongest or the most spectacular: its activity throughout northern hemisphere summer makes it the most observed shower.
Linked to comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
Radiant position and activity
Local circumstances have been computed for latitude ? and longitude ?. Click on any of the two coordinates to set them manually with a map.
| Date | R.A. | Decl. | ZHR | Rise | % moon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum | 48° | 58° | 100 | 12 | |
| September 7 (0h UTC) | Inactive | ||||
Meaning of columns is the following:
- R.A. and Decl.: Right ascension and declination of radiant at maximum, referred to ICRS. ICRS is the reference system used by modern star catalogs.
- ZHR: Zenith Hourly Rate. It is the maximum number of meteors that an observer could see under ideal conditions, with clear skies and the radiant at zenith.
- Rise: Time of geometric rise of the radiant, expressed in local time. Symbol * means that the radiant is circumpolar for your latitude.
- % Moon: Percentage of Moon's illumination at 0h UTC of the given date.
If you are in doubt about these concepts, please visit the meteor area.