August 11, 2024
Your life began on a planet that never stops moving under a sky that never stops changing.
Animation: Perseid Meteor Shower
Birthday · August 11, 2024
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published August 11, 2024 · Video still. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Where do Perseid meteors come from? Mostly small bits of stony grit, Perseid meteoroids were once expelled from Comet Swift-Tuttle and continue to follow this comet's orbit as they slowly disperse. The featured animation depicts the entire meteoroid stream as it orbits our Sun. When the Earth nears this stream, as it does every year, the Perseid Meteor Shower occurs. Highlighted as bright in the animation, comet debris this size is usually so dim it is practically undetectable. Only a small fraction of this debris will enter the Earth's atmosphere, heat up and disintegrate brightly. Tonight and the next few nights promise some of the better skies to view the Perseid shower as well as other active showers because the first quarter moon will be absent from the sky from midnight onward. Your Sky Surprise: What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (post 1995)