Adrian Dening's Stars Over Somerset

Wednesday, 7 August 2024 17:00

Monday 12th to Sunday 18th August 2024

The peak of the annual Perseids meteor shower is predicted to occur around 3pm on Monday 12th..........which isn't a lot of use as it will be broad daylight! However there should be a good chance to see some of the shooting stars over the nights of 11th / 12th and 12th / 13th, either side of the peak.

If you are outside around midnight, the constellation of Perseus will be located towards the north east, between the horizon and the familiar "W" shape of Cassiopeia on its side. The radiant point, where the meteors appear to originate from, is towards the top of Perseus.

If you stay up until around 2am, you will catch Mars and Jupiter rising above horizon in the east north east. The two planets will appear to be very close together.

If you repeat this planet-spotting exercise again at 2am on Wednesday 14th, the pair will be in conjunction, or in other words, the closest they ever appear to get to each other. Of course in reality, they are millions of miles apart from each other - it is just the angle you are looking at them from here on the Earth.

Because everything in space is a very long distance away, you only see things in two dimensions with no depth perception because relative to those huge distances, the space between your eyes is incredibly small! When you look at things close up, then the relative distances are much smaller and your eyes give you a stereoscopic 3D view. Try looking at the branches of trees in your garden and then some trees on the horizon - you'll see what I mean!

www.starsoversomerset.com
Screenshots courtesy of Stellarium
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