NASA Identifies Perseids as the Fireball Champion of Annual Meteor Showers
Posted on July 27, 2013
NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) has identified the Perseids as the "fireball champion" of annual meteor showers. The graphic above shows that since 2008, the Perseids have produced more fireballs than any other annual meteor shower. All Sky Fireball Network is a network of cameras set up by the MEO with the goal of observing meteors brighter than the planet Venus, which are called fireballs.
Comet Swift-Tuttle is producing this year's Perseid meteor shower. This year's Perseid display peaks on August 12th and 13th.
Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office said in a statement, "Comet Swift-Tuttle has a huge nucleus--about 26 km in diameter. Most other comets are much smaller, with nuclei only a few kilometers across. As a result, Comet Swift-Tuttle produces a large number of meteoroids, many of which are large enough to produce fireballs."
Take a look:
EarthSky has an article about this year's Perseid meteor shower here.
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