Northern Lights, Perseids and more. It's worth staying up all night from Monday to Tuesday, because there are plenty of astronomical attractions waiting for us. If someone hasn't had the opportunity to see colorful lights in the sky recently, they have another chance, and it's with a shower of falling stars.
On the night from Sunday to Monday, it was visible over Poland aurora borealisas well as meteors from the Perseid shower, sometimes at the same time, which enhanced the observation of the sky illuminated with different colors. The coming night may prove to be even more attractive for lovers of observing the night sky. As the astronomy popularizer and author of the blog “Z głowy w gwiazdach” Karol Wójcicki writes, “this may be the most beautiful night of 2024”.
Perseids at their peak
The Perseids, the summer meteor shower, began on July 17 and will last until August 24. However, the most important period is around the maximum, which falls on August 12. The most so-called shooting stars will be visible in the sky before dawn, around 3 a.m. on Tuesday.
Falling stars, or meteors, are light phenomena that accompany the passage of a rock fragment from space (meteoroid) through the Earth's atmosphere. Most of these particles burn up in the atmosphere, only the larger ones are able to reach the surface of our planet and after falling we find them as meteorites. Perseids are fast meteors, reaching a speed of 59 kilometers per second. They usually fall in groups of 6-15 meteors in 2-3 minutes. There can be about 60 meteors in an hour, so an average of one per minute.
“Remember, it is best to watch meteors from outside the city. The darker the sky, the more often and more phenomena you will be able to see. During the observations, lie comfortably on a deckchair, blanket or jump into a sleeping bag. Just look up, you will see meteors in different parts of the sky. You will see a lot of short phenomena above the eastern horizon, look for longer phenomena above the northern and southern horizon,” advises Karol Wójcicki.
Northern lights over Poland
The aurora borealis was visible in many parts of the country on the night from Sunday to Monday, from the sea to the mountains. There is a good chance that on the night from Monday to Tuesday it will be possible to admire this spectacular phenomenon for the second time in a row. As the astronomy popularizer explains, “although the aurora conditions are gradually weakening, one of the strongest magnetic storms of recent months lasted all day.”
According to Wójcicki, the clearly visible aurora borealis can appear in the sky as early as around 10 p.m. However, to see it, just like in the case of watching the Perseids, you have to go outside the city, where you won't be disturbed by artificial light. It's best to look for the aurora borealis immediately after dusk.
The aurora borealis, a light phenomenon that usually occurs near the North and South Poles, is caused when energized gas particles sent by the Sun hit the upper atmosphere of the Earth at high speed. The planet is protected from the “attack” by a magnetic field that redirects the particles toward the poles and the particles interact with gases in our atmosphere.
Conjunction of Jupiter and Mars
This week, we also have a spectacular conjunction ahead of us. On Wednesday, Mars and Jupiter will be exceptionally close to each other from Earth's perspective. The next opportunity to see them meet so closely will not come until 2033. In reality, they will be separated by 575 million kilometers, but they have not come this close in six years.
As the author of the blog “Z głowy w gwiazdach” points out, “both planets are already perfectly visible above the eastern horizon today”. It is best to look for them in the sky from about 1 a.m.
Chinese “Starlinks”
In the night sky these days you can also see the passage of telecommunications satellites, but not those of the American company SpaceX, but those belonging to China.
On Tuesday, a Long March 6A launch vehicle carried 18 of the type into low Earth orbit, part of the Qianfan Xingzuo project, or “Thousand Sails Constellation,” also known as the “G60 Star Link,” which is intended to provide broadband internet access, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The satellites have been deployed, butThe rocket broke into hundreds of pieces on Thursday, posing a threat to low Earth orbit..
As Wójcicki reported, the satellites were visible on Sunday around 2:20 above the southern horizon. In the second half of the night from Monday to Tuesday, they should also be easy to spot.
tvnmeteo.pl, “With your head in the stars”, space.com
Main image source: Contact 24