How big is the Parent Comet Swift-Tuttle that causes the Perseids each year?

9 Comments on “How big is the Parent Comet Swift-Tuttle that causes the Perseids each year?”

1. #1 Bill
   on Aug 7th, 2009 at 1:56 pm

   Thanks for the information, Mark. Hopefully lots of that debris will intersect our orbit this year!

   Point of consideration – two or three early-mornings past-peak may be a good time to observe, as the moon will rise later and will be moving toward new moon. The morning of the 14th the moon will rise around local midnight and will of course be low on the horizon for a while. The following nights it gets even better. Of course, Perseid rates will be falling from the peak but 20 to 30 meteors per hour under dark skies (including sporadics and other showers) is still a pretty good show.

2. #2 Meteor
   on Aug 7th, 2009 at 6:23 pm

   Bill,

   I agree, but don’t sacrifice missing the peak date to view other the dates. I like your comment and I would agree with all of it, 20 to 30 per hours is still very good.

   - Meteor Mark

3. #3 Jacquie
   on Aug 8th, 2009 at 10:53 am

   Did I see Swift Tuttle or just a meteor over Birmingham on 76 August at about 23:00 GMT?

4. #4 Meteor
   on Aug 8th, 2009 at 4:17 pm

   Jacquie,

   No you didn’t. Comets do not streak across the sky in the same manner as meteors or fireballs. I think you saw a fireball from your description.

   There was a comet named Lulin that was visible in February 2009 check out this post COMET LULIN to see what a comet can look like in your night sky. You will notice it looks stationery. It is moving really fast, but it is just really far away from Earth.

   Keep your head up!

   - Meteor Mark

5. #5 jacquie
   on Aug 8th, 2009 at 6:19 pm

   Thanks Meteor Mark

   I have a video clip – although not brilliant.

   Do these fireballs happen often. I have not seen one previously although have sat out in August last year to watch a meteor shower over Wales.

   J

6. #6 Meteor
   on Aug 8th, 2009 at 6:26 pm

   Jacquie,

   I wouldn’t be inclined to say Fireballs are common, but they don’t happen very often. I would consider them a moderately rare occurrence. You may have a chance to see a lot more of them on the 12th of August.

   - Meteor Mark

7. #7 Meteor
   on Aug 9th, 2009 at 11:45 pm

   Meteor Enthusiast,

   The Perseids is coming soon. Keep your head up!

   - Meteor Mark

8. #8 Bill
   on Aug 10th, 2009 at 1:19 pm

   Agree on watching peak night moon or not. As a matter of fact I saw 5 in an hour of viewing last night with the moon glaring at my back. One was a nice -4 fireball that shot through the Cass/Ceph border.

9. #9 chris
   on Aug 12th, 2009 at 10:29 am

   was in Ocean City, MD last week and saw a huge fireball streak accross the entire sky. It was the best meteor i have ever seen. Pieces of it broke off and made their own seperate streaks. Would this have been related to Swift-Tuttle?