Perseid meteor shower
Don’t miss these celestial fireworks!
The Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak on the morning of August 12, 2008.
A Perseid streaking across the sky in St.Polycarpe, Quebec, Canada…
Image: Frederic Hore (from http://www.spaceweather.com)
Meteor showers occur when the Earth passes through the orbit of a comet. Comets leave behind dust and other particles when they pass by the Sun. When the Earth moves through the orbit of a comet, these particles enter our atmosphere at a very high speed. Since most of them are tiny particles, they vapourise completely on entering the atmosphere due to the ram pressure (pressure exerted on an object as it passes through a fluid medium – can be a liquid or a gas), leaving a trail of light that is visible from the surface of the Earth as a “shooting star”.
This particular meteor shower appears to come from the Perseus constellation and has been named as the Perseid meteor shower. The Perseids occur when our planet passes through the orbit of the Swift-Tuttle comet.
The meteor shower will be quite active from August 8 to August 14, with the peak occurring on the morning of August 12. Once the Moon sets on August 12, one should be able to watch at least a few of these shooting stars in the dark sky before sunrise. The best place would be the countryside, as far away from the city as possible.
Hopefully, the Perseids won’t disappoint Earthlings waiting to catch a glimpse of these beautiful shooting stars! 🙂
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