The most awaited shower of the summer

Meteor shower from the Teide Observatory. Credit: Juan Carlos Casado. High resolution image: https://flic.kr/p/2o67iTd

On the night of 12 to 13 August, the sky-live. tv will travel to Extremadura to broadcast the maximum of the Perseids 2023 from the International Centre for Sports Innovation in the Natural Environment “El Anillo”, as well as from the Observatories of the Canary Islands, as one of the dissemination activities of the Energy Efficiency Laboratories (EELabs) project, coordinated by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), with the support of the Cabildo Insular de La Palma, the astronomical dissemination area of SODEPAL and the Extremadura Buenas Noches project, promoted by the Junta de Extremadura, Provincial Councils, REDEX and FEMPEX.

The skies of the Canary Islands and Extremadura will be the chosen stage for this year’s live broadcast of the most eagerly awaited meteor shower of the summer: the Perseids. In addition to the Teide Observatory (Tenerife) and the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (Garafía, La Palma), the International Centre for Sports Innovation in the Natural Environment “El Anillo” (Guijo de Granadilla, Cáceres) will be another of the points from which the sky-live.tv channel will show the Perseids meteor shower.

Remains of a comet

As every year at this time, the Earth passes through the cloud of dust and rocks that the comet Swift-Tuttle has left behind in each of its orbits around the Sun. Consequently, from mid-July to the end of August, every night we can see the Perseids, also known as the “Tears of St Lawrence”. This year, their maximum is expected in the early morning of 13 August. Therefore, in Europe, the best nights to enjoy their activity will be between 11 and 14 August.

Live from the Canary Islands and Extremadura

For this reason, the Sky-Live.tv channel will start broadcasting on the night of 12 August at 21:50 UT (23:50 local time in Extremadura, 22:50 in the Canary Islands).

This event, which can be seen through the YouTube channel and Sky-Live.tv social networks, is part of the dissemination activities of the Interreg Energy Efficiency Laboratories (EELabs) project. To make it possible, it is supported by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, the Junta de Extremadura through the Extremadura Buenas Noches project, the Astrotourism Promotion Programme of SODEPAL and the Cabildo de La Palma, the MAGIC telescopes and CTAO (Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory).

Link to live stream: https://sky-live.tv/

What actually are the “Tears of St. Lawrence”?

Contrary to what their name suggests, the only relationship between “shooting stars” and the gigantic balls of burning gas that are stars is the name. When we speak of “shooting stars”, we are referring to tiny dust particles, some smaller than a grain of sand, that are released from comets – or asteroids – along their orbits around the Sun. The cloud of particles (called meteoroids), the result of solar heat melting, is scattered by the comet’s orbit and is passed by the Earth on its annual path around the Sun. During this encounter, the dust granules disintegrate as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, creating the luminous trails that are scientifically known as meteors.

In the case of the Perseids, the celestial body from which they have detached is the comet Swift-Tuttle. Discovered in 1862 and measuring approximately 26 km in diameter, it is the largest object to periodically approach the Earth. However, they are named “Perseids” after the constellation Perseus, as the point in the sky where this constellation is located is where they appear to be born.

Recommendations for viewing the Perseids 2023

One of the main problems when it comes to astronomical observations is light pollution, so to enjoy the most awaited meteor shower of the summer, the first thing to do is to choose a place with clear skies, away from city lights. It will also be important to wait until midnight, when the constellation of Perseus is at its zenith (right at the vertical of the place where we are). And finally, we will have to be patient, so we recommend finding a comfortable position and taking some warm clothes with us, in order to last 15 minutes observing the same point in the sky. During that time, if conditions are ideal, we should observe between 20 and 25 meteors.

EELabs (eelabs.eu) is a project funded by the INTERREG V-A MAC Programme 2014-2020, co-financed by the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) of the European Union, under contract number MAC2/4.6d/238. EELabs involves 5 Macaronesian centres (IAC, ITER, UPGC, SPEA-Azores, SPEA-Madeira). The objective of EELabs is to create Laboratories to measure the Energy Efficiency of Artificial Night Light in protected natural areas of Macaronesia (Canary Islands, Madeira and Azores).

Didactic material

Star Counters: http://www.contadoresdeestrellas.org/
Star Counters Guide: https://t.co/zWiRtBRFPf
Audiovisual material

High resolution images of the Perseids: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmJkhiGt
High resolution images of Meteor showers: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjH2BFa4