NASA said that the Perseids meteor shower will peak this Friday and Saturday when stargazers will be able to see 50 to 100 shooting stars per hour. It is typically one of the clearest and most visible meteor shower events, but a bright full moon might make it harder to see.
The last supermoon of 2022 will also peak this week and its bright illumination could dim the light of the shooting stars, which means that the spectacular event might have to duel out with the rare full moon event.
The Best Meteor Shower Event vs. The Supermoon
Science Times previously reported that the Perseids meteor shower this year will peak in mid-August, and NASA noted that this is the "best meteor shower of the year."
The American space agency explained in a blog post that the swift and bright meteors make the meteor shower event leave long wakes of light and color behind them as they streak through the atmosphere. More so, it is the most plentiful showers per hour that occur with the warm summer nighttime that is supposedly good weather for viewing the shooting stars.
However, the moon seems to have other plans. The last supermoon of 2022 threatens to dim the light of the meteor shower as it peaks on Thursday.
Robert Lunsford from the American Meteor Society explained in an interview with Minneapolis NBC affiliate KING that the supermoon will mute the meteor shower event a bit, but there are enough bright meteors that the show will still be in full swing.
That means stargazers interested in catching a glimpse of the magnificent show will still see enough activity by facing away from the Moon. The Perseids meteor shower will be at its most visible from Perseus, where it originates, which is high up in the night sky opposite the horizon.
The American Meteor Society says that the official maximum of the shower will be at 01:00 Universal Time (9 pm ET and 6 pm ET) on Friday night. But it will be so close to the horizon on the dark early morning of Saturday.
August Supermoon 2022
August's supermoon is called the sturgeon moon and will peak on Thursday at 1:36 am GMT (9:36 pm ET). A supermoon is not an official astronomical term but is used to describe a moon that occurs when it is at its closest to Earth in its elliptical orbit. There are about three to four supermoons every year and they occur consecutively in which the sturgeon moon is the last of the four supermoons this year.
The website How Stuff Works? explains that the name of the supermoon was given by ancient people who used it to describe the month or season.
Some attributed the sturgeon moon to Native Americans who found that it is easier to catch surgeons around the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain during August. Meanwhile, some believe that it came from Algonquin tribes who found that surgeons were abundant during this month.
The freshwater sturgeon fish is an essential food to ancient tribes and is the oldest native fish species in the Great Lakes where it first appeared in fossil records from 200 million years ago. Sturgeons could grow up to 9 feet long (2.7 meters) and weigh up to 275 pounds (125 kilograms).
Although the sturgeon moon is the last supermoon, another full moon will happen next month called the harvest moon, which will appear on Sept. 10.
RELATED ARTICLE: Perseids Meteor Shower 2022: How to Watch Shooting Stars From Bay Area and When Will It Peak
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