Perseid fireball 2007, photo by Pierre Martin of Arnprior, Ontario, Canada. © 2009 NASA
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Each year the Earth passes through a cloud of dust from a comet, the Swift-Tuttle, at about the same time, around early August. As the Earth passes through this rubble, bits of the space debris flame out in the atmosphere, creating a cosmic light show known as the Perseids, because it seems as though the meteors originate in the Perseus constellation.
The best time to see the shower is late tonight, Tuesday 11 August till dawn Wednesday 12 August, although the waning moon rises at about midnight and will spoil the effects. Perseus is in the northeastern sky.
This work by genevalunch.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
News story, GenevaLunch, 11 August 2009.
Filed under: Society
Tags: astronomy, Earth, meteorites, Perseids, Perseus, science, sky, Swift-Tuttle
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August 12th, 2009 at 1:38 am
Is it posible to see the “Cosmic Light Shower” from Geneva ?? at wish time and can I still see it the night of the 12 ???
Thanks.
Atte Javiera A.
August 12th, 2009 at 7:34 am
You should be able to see the shower tonight, 12 August as well, from Geneva. The city lights will “blind” you to the meteors, so if you can get a little bit out of town, you’ll see them. Between 22 and 24 is the best time. Enjoy!
August 12th, 2009 at 7:35 am
In theory, yes, but it’s unlikely you’ll see much because city lights get in the way. If you can get out of the city and into the countryside your chances will be better – but hope the skies are not overcast at that point! The sun sets at 20:49 and the moon rises at 23:03, so the best time is between the two, when the sky is dark. Alternatively, try very early in the morning, well before the sun rises at 6:30. Good luck!
August 12th, 2009 at 9:08 am
It is 3 a.m., wednesday morning in upstate New York. For those that don’t know that is the part of NY that is not nyc. Unfortunately it is much too cloudy to see the shower tonight. I am very disappointed since it was to cloudy last year too. I will try again tomorrow night to see if any stragglers will peak through the clouds then (it’s supposed to be cloudy also).
August 12th, 2009 at 11:09 am
I just checked, here in upstate New York, at 5AM, and saw no signs. It’s cloudy, but the moon is brightly visible.
August 12th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Don’t look at the moon! According to Nasa, if you look at the moon it ruins your night vision and you won’t be able to see the stars. Second suggestion: blow away those clouds!
August 12th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
[...] GenevaLunch » Blog Archive » Cosmic light show: Perseid meteor …August 12th, 2009 at 9:08 am. It is 3 a.m., wednesday morning in upstate New York. For those that don’t know that is the part of NY that is not nyc. Unfortunately it is much too cloudy to see the shower tonight. …Read More [...]
August 12th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
im here in the UK its just going dark at what time and where do we look for this meteor shower, im in the north of the Uk????
August 13th, 2009 at 12:22 am
I’m an hour ahead of you, in Switzerland, and I’ve just seen several of them, absolutely magic! I suggest you run outside right now, wrap a scarf around your neck which will be sore from staring up at the sky, and look before the moon rises very high. Happy viewing!
August 13th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
We had a truly spectacular display of shooting stars in Verbier last night, some which shot across the whole sky – luckily it was a crystal clear night but jolly cold too (1.45am). By around 5.30am the light of the moon ruined the display.
PlanetSKI updates on last night’s event http://www.planetski.eu/news/704