The astronomical wonders of 2021 are just as many as in previous years, this year we have seen the "annular eclipse", "super blood moon" and so on, and now the annual meteor shower event in the northern hemisphere has come again, which is one of the three major meteor showers known as the northern hemisphere - the Perseid meteor shower, which is called the three major meteor showers in the northern hemisphere with the quadriterian meteor shower and the Gemini meteor shower, so it is worth a look, this meteor shower is not a special situation, it will appear every year.
However, as a lover who likes to watch meteor showers, you will definitely want to see them when you encounter meteor showers, and this is also one of the three major meteor showers in the Northern Hemisphere, and it is also the third largest meteor shower in 2021, and the time it occurs is behind the other two, so it is worth observing, the naked eye can see, and there is no need for any preparation. Let's take a brief explanation.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > zenith traffic per hour can be more than 110</h1>
The parent body of the Perseid meteor shower comet is "Swift Tuttle's Comet", which appears around July 25 to August 18 every year, but there is a peak period of zenith flow every year, and on August 13, 2021, that is, this year's Perseid meteor shower flow will reach the maximum period, and the maximum peak flow per hour can reach more than 110, so it is very strong. And this year's meteor shower also has a special situation, that is, the entire observation period is not affected by moonlight, and the observation conditions are excellent.
Therefore, interested friends can watch from 21:00 on the evening of August 12 to before dawn on the 13th in a wide field of view. Of course, this is also a very old meteor shower event, in our country's historical records can also find traces, 69 BC and 188 AD have this comet appeared in the record, so very old, lasted for so many years, still maintained, really is a relatively special celestial astronomical event.
Swift Tuttle's comet has a cycle of about 120 years, and although the number of meteors appears to be relatively large this year, there are larger in history, with a maximum of about 400 per hour, which appeared in 1991 and 1992. At the same time, according to the calculations of Japanese experts, it is expected that the next return will be in August 2126, that is, there may be a meteor report, which is indeed relatively long in terms of time. Let's take a look at the issues that everyone is most concerned about.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" > where can you see it in China? </h1>
According to the data, the meteors of the Perseid meteor group are relatively fast, up to 59 km / s, and this year's meteor shower is 3 to 6 am Beijing time on August 13, which is a very good observation period, its radiation point is +58 degrees in declination, the location is relatively north, that is, the northern region of China, relatively better, which for the latitude and Beijing similar to the region, the requirements are not very high, can be observed all night, because its radiation point will never fall below the horizon.
In the eastern region of our country, the maximum meteor shower at dawn has just begun, and the dawn in the central and western regions should be postponed for more than 1-2 hours, and everyone sleeps well in one night, and the dawn time is just suitable for observation during the maximum period, and the observation effect will be more ideal. So in fact, most of our country has viewing places, a large area in the north is not a problem, the southeast region may be a little worse, but if the weather conditions are very good, it is also valuable.
Summary: Most of the north, the east, the central and western regions can be observed, but the most critical weather is also a key issue, the weather is the best time to observe, if it rains, there must be a problem. Let's take a look at the problem of rain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > there is a wide range of rain in the south and little rain in the north</h1>
Judging from the rain from August 12 to 13, the meteor shower observation in the surrounding areas of Beijing in China is indeed the best, of which Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and other places are a large-scale rainless situation, but the yangtze River Delta region in the eastern region is a lot of rain, and the central and western regions are the same. In Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Guizhou, Chongqing, Sichuan and other places are large-scale rainwater, it can be said that almost all of the south is soaked in rainy weather.
So from the perspective of rain, in fact, the northern region is the best place to observe, too much rain in the south, the east, the central and western regions have obvious rain, of which Hubei, Jiangxi and other places are heavy rain, heavy rain, how to see the meteor shower, we can only see the raindrops, so if you want to see the meteor shower friends can only go to the northern region, the south is basically a "hopeless" model.
Therefore, in general, one of the three major annual meteor showers - the Perseid meteor shower is coming as promised, and the southern region is basically completely rainy weather when the southern region is basically completely rainy weather.
Even if the maximum zenith flow can reach more than 110 per hour, it is a pity that you can only see the rain. At the same time, the perseid meteor shower erupted on a scale in 1991 and 1992, reaching a maximum of about 400 per hour. This will not be seen until August 2126, so there is still a hundred years to go, and for those of our age, hope is gone.