This weekend, more precisely next Saturday, August 12 (dawn of 12 to 13), will be able to watch a meteor shower. This phenomenon has more strategic times to be seen in the best way and, in addition to meteors, you will also be able to see planets with the naked eye.
It is already on day 12 that you can see the meteor shower of the Perseids – a phenomenon that occurs every year, once a year. And the best time to see it will be between 2 pm and 2:30 am.
“In Portugal, the peak of the phenomenon will be more visible in the early hours of day 13, from 1 hour. However, it will be worth observing them at night in the days ahead of the peak and until August 24”, according to the Lisbon Astronomical Observatory.
In addition to the specific times, the Observatory also said that the best observation heights will occur on New Moon nights. “The instant of the New Moon phase occurs on the 21st at 7:30 p.m.”, concludes the Observatory.
But after all, what is a meteor?
According to the information provided by the Astronomical Observatory of Lisbon, it is called by meteor the luminous phenomenon resulting from the entrance into the atmosphere of the Earth, of a solid body coming from the space.
And attention, there are planets that can also be seen.
It is not only the meteor shower that marks this month of August. In fact, during the evenings of August “all the planets visible to the naked eye can be observed”. We speak of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
For example, Mercury can be seen in the southwest direction in the constellation Leo until the end of the 13th. Venus is in the southwest direction, in the constellation of Gemini, and will be visible at dawn. Mars will also be visible from day 16 at dawn in the constellation of Cancer (northeast), but will move later to the constellation of Leo. Jupiter, will be by the constellation Virgo, at dusk, in the southwest direction. Finally, Saturn will be visible at dusk, southeast, and “for much of the night of Ophiuchus”.