‘Tears of San Lorenzo’: the best days and places to enjoy the rain of stars in Aragon – CARTV (Aragonese Radio and Television Corporation)

An August is not August without Perseids. The most famous meteor shower of the year, also known as ‘Tears of San Lorenzo’, returns one more summer to fill our skies with light. The activity of the Perseids began on July 17 and will last until August 24, but the peak of this phenomenon will take place between August 11 and 13, being the morning from Friday to Saturday when greater visibility is expected. . However, experts warn that this is not the best year to enjoy the ‘Tears of San Lorenzo’ due to a full moon that will partially tarnish the show. According to the calculations of the standard models, the activity of the Perseids is around 100 meteors / hour, but on this occasion the brightness of the Moon will make it difficult to see the weakest ones and will reduce the figure considerably. “The frequency of Perseids will be lower, about one every 15 minutes, and we will only observe the brightest ones, which will continue to be impressive,” says astronomer Miquel Serra-Ricart. What does not change compared to previous years is the way of contemplating this phenomenon of nature. To do this, it is necessary to find a place away from urban centers, fix your eyes on a point in the sky and wait patiently to see some of the light traces of the Perseids. “To see the ‘Tears of San Lorenzo’ it is essential to leave the big cities to leave behind the light pollution”, confirm from the Huesca Astronomical Association. In addition, they assure: “No professional instruments are necessary, simply by lying on the ground we can enjoy the views.” Another factor to take into account is the weather, before choosing the place to see the Perseids it is necessary to check that there will be no fog or cloudy skies in that area. Where to see the meteor shower in Aragon? Within the Community there are numerous options to live these days in a special and educational way. In Arcos de las Salinas (Teruel), the Galactic astronomy center organizes every night, until August 14, an activity called ‘Perseids with the family’. Through this initiative, the most curious aspects of this unique meteor shower are made known to all types of public. Also in the province of Teruel, specifically in the Monastery of El Olivar de Estercuel, there will be a theme night on the Moon and the Perseids, which will be made up of legends, stories and “a bit of science”, say its organizers. Another point of interest during these starry nights will be the Aragón Planetarium, located in the Walqa Technology Park (Huesca). In this space they will use their powerful telescopes to offer a more professional view of the sky. “In addition to enjoying the spectacle of the Perseids, we can also see Saturn, the Hercules Cluster, the planetary Nebula of La Lira or double stars,” they point out from the astronomical center. The observations will be carried out until August 20 and from the Planetarium they remember that they are aimed at people over ten years of age and that within their program there is a children’s activity scheduled for August 11. For its part, the Huesca Astronomical Group has organized a free activity in this same space on August 12 from 11:00 p.m. While in the town of Sariñena, on the esplanade of Cerámicas Palau, Astromonegros organizes another observation, this time it will be on Saturday at 11:00 p.m. In Zaragoza, one of the most popular places to contemplate the ‘Tears of San Lorenzo’ is the municipality of Torrecilla de Valmadrid, a town with clear skies where astronomical activities are frequently carried out. Its proximity to the Aragonese capital, some 20 kilometers away, makes it a busy space to which numerous people make a pilgrimage every year in search of the best views to enjoy the meteor shower. For all those who cannot participate in any of these options, on the night of Friday, August 12 to Saturday, August 13, the sky-live.tv channel will broadcast the Perseid meteor shower live from Pico do Arieiro (Madeira, Portugal). ) and from the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, in La Palma. PERSEIDS THIS WEEK The Perseids is the most anticipated meteor shower by all and can be seen from any corner of the world and the nights of August 11 to 13 will be the high point.
And if there are clouds in the sky you can always see them live on SKYLIVE TV pic.twitter.com/cp3KmO2pdO — Space Frontier (@FronteraSpacial) August 9, 2022 The stars, a source of tourism In the Huesca region of Somontano de Barbastro they know that the stars can be a great attraction for many tourists and, during the months of July, August and September, they have designed a complete calendar of activities and workshops to promote astrotourism. “It is a resource that in our territory can help settle the population, enhance public spaces linked to stargazing and break seasonality, thus supporting the tourism sector,” emphasizes the president of the region, Daniel Gracia. Something that corroborates the person in charge of the Tourism area, María Morena, who qualifies the towns of Somontano de Barbastro as “privileged places for observing nature at its best”. “In this sense, the depopulation that we have reviled so many times has played our favor, since there are clear skies without light pollution and with surprising atmospheric quality. That is why we have prepared a very complete program of activities to observe the sky that covers us”, says Morena. In total there are 28 activities scheduled for this summer, including the observation of the Perseids. You can check the calendar and register through this link. No tears, no stars. What are the Perseids really? The Perseids receive their name from the constellation of Perseus, where their radiant is located (the point in the sky from which they seem to be born), but they have their origin in the comet Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862, and which, with a Approximately 26 kilometers in diameter, it is the largest object that periodically approaches Earth. Small dust particles, some smaller than grains of sand, that are released from comets or asteroids throughout their orbits around the Sun are known as shooting stars. The resulting cloud of particles (meteoroids), due to the melting produced by solar heat, it is dispersed by the comet’s orbit and is traversed by the Earth on its annual journey around the Sun. During this encounter, the dust particles disintegrate as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, creating the well-known luminous trails They receive the scientific name of meteors.