DarkSlinky

The comet, Swift-Tuttle, takes 130 years to orbit the sun.  When it passes closer to the sun, it leaves behind a trail of rock and dust particles.  It last swept through the inner solar system in 1992.

Twice every year the Earths path crosses with the trail of rock and dust left behind by Swift-Tuttle (See picture below: ‘Perseids meteor shower’).  The particles of the trail, most of which are smaller than a grain of sand, create a spectacular display when they burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.  This is called the Perseids meteor shower.

Meteor showers usually get their names from their ‘radiant’, which is the point they appear to come from in the sky.  The Perseids meteor shower appears to come from the constellation Perseus (See picture below: ‘Perseids meteor shower’), hence, it was named accordingly.

This particular meteor shower has been observed for about 2,000 years.  Most of the debris the Earth passes through every year is about 1,000 years old.

The Perseids meteor shower can be seen from all over the world from mid-July to mid-August every year.  Due to the orbit of Swift-Tuttle, the Perseids meteor shower is easier to see from the Northern hemisphere and is most active from 8 August to 14 August, usually peaking on 12 August.  During its peak, you may see 60 – 80 meteors per hour.

Perseids meteor shower.

For more information, check out these websites:

Perseids:  2009.
Perseids:  NASA.
Perseids:  History.
2009 Meteor Showers.

References:

Wikipedia:  Perseids.
ScienceRay:  Perseids.
ScienceRay:  Meteor showers.

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