Blind date with the Perseids

Credit: Daniel López / IAC.
Credit: Daniel López / IAC.
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The Perseid meteor shower, known in Spain by the popular name of "Saint Lawrence´s Tears" ( "Las Lagrimas de San Lorenzo"), will be visible with the greatest meteor frequency during the night of August 12th-13th, once the "radiant" , located in the north-west, in the direction of the constellation of Perseus, rises at 23.30 in the Canary Islands, and somewhat earlier in the Peninsula, depending on the latitude and longitude of the observer* The maximum frecuency of meteors is expected between midnight and 3.00 U.T. ( corresponding to an hour later in the Canaries, and two hours later in the Peninsula). The Moon will have attained its maximum phase, full-moon, two nights previously, so it will be bright enough to impede good observations of the meteor shower. In addition, the Moon will be particularly bright, as on this occasion full-moon coincides with lunar perigee, the point in its orbit when it is closest to the Earth.

Perseids Images: ftp://ftp.iac.es/out/Perseidas/

2014 Perseids video

Perseids Map

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Press release

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