Home > Comet, Meteor Shower > Ephemeris: 08/08/2024 – The source of the Perseid Meteor Shower

Ephemeris: 08/08/2024 – The source of the Perseid Meteor Shower

August 8, 2024

This is Ephemeris for Thursday, August 8th. Today the Sun will be up for 14 hours and 20 minutes, setting at 8:58, and it will rise tomorrow at 6:38. The Moon, halfway from new to first quarter, will set at 10:47 this evening.

The source of the Perseid meteor shower is Comet Swift-Tuttle, first discovered in 1862 buy Lewis Swift and Horace Parnell Tuttle. The comet was expected back around 1982, but it didn’t show. Its orbit was recalculated and was expected around 1992, when it indeed showed up. The comet has a 130 or so year orbit of the Sun which does vary from appearance to appearance. The comet appears to be in resonance with Jupiter’s orbit of the Sun, going around once in the same time Jupiter goes around the Sun 11 times. Its next appearance in the inner solar system will be in the year 2126, when it is expected to be quite bright then, coming relatively close to the Earth.

The astronomical event times given are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan (EDT, UT–4 hours). Times will be different for other locations.

Addendum

Swift-Tuttle 1992 orbital plot
The passage of Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle through the inner solar system November 1, 1992 to January 30, 1993. The meteoroids shed by the comet on its numerous trips close to the Sun lie close to that orbit. Note that its orbit intersects with the Earth’s orbit. That’s where the Earth will be around August 12-13 every year. The “stilts” run from each comet position down to the plane of the Earth’s orbit showing that its orbit cuts through the plane of the solar system at a steep angle. That’s why the radiant point for the Perseids is so far north in our sky. Created using my LookingUp app.
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