Every summer, in August, we have a highly anticipated event, especially for sky lovers: the “Tears of San Lorenzo” or Perseids. An authentic meteor shower that extends over several days in different corners of USA.
Like a good meteor shower, and if you want to enjoy it both through your eyes and through your iPhone camera to immortalize the moment, you’re going to have to find a dark place. We currently live in areas with high light pollution which makes it very difficult to comfortably view these phenomena. In this article, we explain how you can follow them, even without the moon in sight.
What are the Tears of the Saint Lawrence or the Perseid rain?
Although the tears of San Lorenzo are a shower of meteorites and different scattered particles, they also have an interesting mythological story behind them. The name “Perseids” comes from directly from Perseus, son of Zeus and the nymph Danaë, who was born from a golden rain.
But if we look at its second name, the tears of San Lorenzo, we do not find a mythological story, quite the opposite: very dark. And on August 10, the day when we will be able to observe this phenomenon, commemorates the martyrdom suffered by Saint Lawrence in Rome in the year 258. Thus, tradition says that this rain of stars are the tears that were shed at that moment of so much pain.
When are the Perseids 2024
When looking to observe the Perseids, it is important to keep in mind that the meteor shower allows us to see 50 to 100 meteors per hour, and it always occurs in mid-summer only in the northern hemisphere of the Earth.
Generally, this phenomenon can be appreciated between July 17 and August 24. But the reality is that the peak moment when we will see the greatest number of meteors crossing our sky is between August 11 and 13. Specifically, between August 12th from 3pm to 6pm. Unfortunately, to see them properly, it is recommended that the sky be clear and the darker the better.
Best time to see the Perseids: When the Moon is not there
Although the busiest days in the sky will occur between August 11 and 13, 2024, there is one special day when the Moon will be hidden by Saturn. We are talking specifically from August 21
However, the most important thing is to find a place where the sky is completely clear of clouds. And we should not forget the darkness in the environmentforcing us to go to a mountain far from population centers where it will be much easier to see the Perseids and take pictures or videos of them.
Best Places to See the Perseids
As we said, the best way to see the stars is to be in a place as dark as possible to avoid light pollution. Obviously, there are favorite places to see this phenomenon as youin a national park or near an observatory. But the reality is that near your home you can find a very good place.
All you need to do is go to the Light Pollution Map website which, as its name suggests, will tell you exactly where there is less light pollution. Ideally, go to an area that is colored dark blue, but this can be a bit tricky. So, the summary advice is to go to the area that is least polluted by light around you.
This map is very precise and you will be able to click on any point of the geography of USA to have data on the amount of lighting that has been reported at that point. In this way, With your own iPhone, you can determine where it is best to be to record this phenomenon in a comfortable way.
Apps to track the Perseids
Today, in the App Store you can find an application for practically any type of action. In this way, we will be able to find options so that give us information about where these meteorite bodies will pass. The main applications are:
- Night Sky is free and easy to use: just type the term “Perseids” in English into your search engine to get information.
- Sky View provides information about this meteor shower with the main times and the number of bodies that may fly over our heads.
- Star Walk 2, an authentic star map for this year 2024 where all the astronomical events that we can expect come together.
Images | Kanenori
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