Perseid Meteor Shower

Perseid Meteor Shower 2014 Google logo (Doodle).


The Perseid Meteor Shower takes place annually. The meteors are called the Perseids because the point in the sky from which they appear to hail (called the radiant) lies in the constellation Perseus. That doesn't mean they have anything to do with the constellation Perseus, just that they appear related to it from our perspective on planet earth.

Google decided to honor the 2014 arrival of the annual August Perseid meteor shower with this doodle. Since they only keep their doodles up for a day, we will preserve this animation here for future reference because, well, we like these space-type animations.

The Perseid meteor shower is great fun if you get some good weather and have a chance to lay outside and watch for a while, especially as a kid.

From the youtube page:

Published on Aug 10, 2014
Perseid Meteor Shower 2014 Google logo (Doodle).

The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. The Perseids are so-called because the point from which they appear to come, called the radiant, lies in the constellation Perseus. The name derives in part from the word Perseides, a term found in Greek mythology referring to the sons of Perseus.

The stream of debris is called the Perseid cloud and stretches along the orbit of the comet Swift-Tuttle. The cloud consists of particles ejected by the comet as it travels on its 133-year orbit. Most of the particles have been part of the cloud for around a thousand years. However, there is also a relatively young filament of dust in the stream that was pulled off the comet in 1865, which can give an early mini-peak the day before the maximum shower.

2020