Night “falling stars”. This is today – Gazeta.pl

This year the conditions conducive to the observers, because the August nights are warm and cloudless, and observations will not be disturbed Moon – appears only in the sky for several minutes before sunrise.

Meteors seem to be running out of the constellation Perseus, hence their name – the Perseids . This should look out for in the northeastern part of the sky. The greatest concentration of events falls in the second half of the night.

The Perseids are also sometimes called “tears of St. Lawrence”, since August 10, that is, during the peak, is the day of his martyrdom.

This is not the falling stars

– What seems to us shooting star, in fact, it is just a speck of dust, often no more from a grain of sand. It falls into the Earth’s atmosphere and friction for it warms up, is burned, and trace this process we observe in the sky as short-lived, fast flash – explains Charles Wojcicki popularizer of astronomy with planetarium sky Copernicus – Copernicus Science Centre.

Most meteors can be seen when the Earth collides with a plume of gas and dust left by a comet. This happens every year in July and August, when our planet meets with the material left behind by the comet 109P / Swift-Tuttle. Earth its way through her braid, and its particles invade Earth’s atmosphere.

– meteor activity in cities is not so visible, because they disappear in the glow of the city, but the brightest, the most attractive are certainly visible. You can go to the park, sit in the square and the square, go up on the roof or balcony and patiently staring at the sky – selects Wojcicki.

This many will not see

Observatory of the University of Bialystok has no plans to public observation.

– When the sky light pollution, with which we deal with in our cities, it would much sense. The frequency of the phenomenon much far removed from that about which you write. Frankly, you would probably count them on the fingers of one hand – says Andrzej Branicki, the guardian of the university observatory.

But encouraged to tour the city, and above all to read at least a little about this phenomenon.

– Even half stroniczki text will gain a lot of interesting knowledge – he said.

You will see or photograph the Perseids? Send us your relationship, we will do a joint gallery: redakcja@bialystok.agora.pl