What do we see during a starfall if the stars do not fall anywhere

Starfalls always cause increased interest not only among astronomers, but also among many other inhabitants of the Earth. You can make a wish by looking at the endlessly falling stars, or just admire the fantastically beautiful sight, as you like. So this August, the inhabitants of our country will be able to observe the brightest starfall of the year, which will be visible on the night of August 12 to 13. But in reality, the stars do not fall anywhere, so what then do we see in the night of a starfall?

From a scientific point of view, a starfall is a high-intensity meteor shower that arises as a result of meteor bodies invading the Earth’s atmosphere. Fragments of asteroids or comets, which flew near the Earth or left their marks on the path of movement of our planet, most often act as meteor bodies.

Currently, our planet is undergoing a plume of dust particles released by the Swift-Tuttle comet, which approaches the Earth once every 135 years. The last time it flew in relative proximity to our planet in 1992, but the Earth crosses a plume of dust particles left after it annually. This comet generates a powerful meteor shower called Perseids, which is clearly visible from Earth.

Earth passes through the Perseid meteor shower every summer from mid-July to the end of August, and the maximum intensity this year will be observed at night from August 12 to August 13. According to experts, this night it will be possible to observe up to 100 meteors per hour.

In general, 9 strong meteor showers, such as Lirids, Geminids, Orionids, and others, can be observed annually from the Earth. In addition to strong, there are still more than 70 medium and weak meteor showers, which are more likely to be of interest to scientists than to ordinary observers. Well, the next powerful meteor shower called Orionids can be observed in October. The maximum of this flux formed by the dust particles of Halley's comet falls on October 21-22.