Staff Reporter
A number of meteors to appear within a small span of time
NEW DELHI: Described as the most active showers this month, the Perseid meteor shower will peak this Monday, giving astronomy lovers in Delhi and elsewhere across the country a wonderful opportunity to watch “shooting stars” blazing past in the sky.
Tiny particles
Meteors basically are beautiful short-lived streaks of light that could be very tiny particles of dust, falling through the atmosphere of Earth, and burning up due to friction. On D-Day, sky-gazers will get a spectacular sight as a number of meteors will appear within a small interval of time. During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 100 per hour. Associated with the Swift-Tuttle comet, the Perseid is a prolific meteor shower that is visible from mid-July each year, but the increased activity happens between August 8 and 14.
According to Nehru Planetarium Director N. Rathnasree, the meteor showers appear in the sky for a few days, but the peak activity is predicted at a specified time. “This year, the peak activity for the Perseid meteor shower is this Monday. People can view the meteor early morning before sunrise. Technically speaking, the actual prediction time for the meteor shower is from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. From any location in the country, one should be able to see an increased number of meteors of the Perseid shower,” she said.
Explaining the scientific reason for the meteor shower appearing around the same time every year, Dr. Rathnasree said these happen when Earth crosses the orbit of a comet or an asteroid.
“Meteors are small, loosely bound celestial bodies which leave a lot of debris all through their orbit. When Earth crosses through their orbits, some of the small debris particles could be captured by the gravitational force of the Earth and fall through its atmosphere. Most of this debris material are very fine, small particles of dust and the meteors completely burn up in the atmosphere.” As light pollution in Delhi is not conducive for good meteor watching, most celestial lovers have select locations outside the city. They will camp out to observe meteor showers. Even amateur astronomers from the Nehru Planetarium are going outside the city to sight meteors.
The exciting aspect of these observations is that one can contribute a new observed data point for the international meteor observing community by just watching the skies all night and counting meteors — without any need for sophisticated equipment. Science Popularisation Association of Communication and Educators president C. B. Devgan said they would last only a fraction of a second.
