Perseus' figure, illustration, and meteor shower

Event Date: August 13th
Time: 1:00 AM


Brief

   I talked about the constellation of Perseus during the late spring and early summer, when it was rising not long before Sunrise.  Now, the entire constellation can be seen from our spot on the globe just after midnight, and high enough as seen at the time above.  As shown in the image below, it is seen in the foreground of the Milky Way band, which can be seen well under a dark sky.  Even without the darkest of skies, the 2nd and 3rd magnitude stars that make up Perseus' stick figure, makes it somewhat easy to see. 

Detailed

   The most western of the stars which rise first, are that of the hero's sword.  What looks like two "legs" sticking down further south and east, have one make up just that, while the other makes up his arm, hand and sack being held with ugly Medusa's head, after she turned herself to stone.
See below, magnified here, as I also included Perseus' classical illustration.

click on images to enlarge: courtesy of Starry Night Pro Plus, version 6.4.3, by Simulation Curriculum Corp.

*Notice the labeled Pleiades towards his left foot.

Also, at this time of August each year, especially under a moonless sky, we have the famous Perseid meteor shower.  They are usually easiest to when the constellation is high enough up, as the radiant is very close to the stick figure.  Meteor showers, as viewed from Earth, are when we pass through the debris of comets.  This debris stays around for years, decades, if not centuries.  However, sometimes we have more meteors seen than other years, disregarding the moon's phase.  The best time to view them this year will be the 11th and 12th, although during non-leap years, the 13th is usually among the dates instead of the 11th. 
To learn more about the Perseids and other meteor showers, read here:
http://earthsky.org/tonight/wheres-the-radiant-point-for-the-perseids
Earthsky, I should admit, inspired me to start doing astronomy journals years ago, and now having them in blog form years after starting to learn how to journal my and others' findings.