Perseid meteor shower to light up Bangladesh skies tonight

The Perseid meteor shower is expected to put on a particularly bright display over Bangladesh tonight (12 August) and early tomorrow, with the dark sky created by a new moon offering favourable conditions for viewing, reports Prothom Alo.

The annual Perseid meteor shower occurs every August as Earth passes through debris left behind by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. This year, the absence of moonlight is expected to make the meteors easier to spot.

Under sufficiently dark conditions, viewers could see up to 100 meteors an hour during the peak, according to information cited by Live Science.

The shower is best viewed from midnight until around 5am. Skywatchers are advised to find an open, dark location and allow their eyes about 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness. Meteors are best observed with the naked eye, as telescopes and binoculars provide a narrower field of view.

The Perseids can be viewed across the Northern Hemisphere and into the mid-southern latitudes. In August, the Perseus constellation rises in the northeastern night sky. Those having difficulty locating Perseus can use the W-shaped Cassiopeia constellation as a guide, as Perseus appears nearby.

The streaks commonly called "shooting stars" are not stars but small rocky particles known as meteoroids. They enter Earth's atmosphere at high speeds and heat up, producing the bright streaks visible from the ground.

According to the American Meteor Society, Perseid meteors can travel through the atmosphere at speeds of up to 214,360km per hour.

Occasionally, the shower also produces exceptionally bright meteors known as fireballs. Robert Lunsford, the society's fireball report coordinator, said the likelihood of fireballs increases when more particles are released from the parent comet.

The Perseids originate from debris left by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which last passed through the inner solar system in 1992 and is not expected to return until 2126.

The comet's nucleus is about 26km in diameter. Its repeated passages through the inner solar system have left behind the debris trail that produces the Perseid meteor shower when Earth passes through it.

The Perseids are particularly popular because they occur during summer in the Northern Hemisphere, making viewing more comfortable than during meteor showers that peak in colder months.