Digression from Blog Topic: Meteor shower visible in Metro Manila Aug 12

With clear skies expected to prevail over the country in the next few days, astronomy enthusiasts can watch out for a spectacular meteor display tomorrow night, the weather bureau said yesterday.

Prisco Nilo, director of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said the Perseid meteor shower will peak on the night of Aug. 12 until dawn the following day, with hundreds of meteors per hour to be observed under most favorable sky conditions.

“Occasionally, an exceptional shower may show tens or even hundreds of meteors per minute, but around 50 meteors per hour is more typical,” Nilo said in a statement.
He said the Perseid meteor shower is the most reliable one to be seen from Aug. 10 to 14 of each year.

“Under most favorable clear sky condition, there may be 60 to 100 meteors per hour,” he said.

Nilo said August is one of the most popular times of the year to observe meteor showers, which are easiest to see if there is no moonlight and light pollution.

The Perseid meteor shower radiates out from the constellation Perseus, located in the eastern horizon during this month, Nilo said.

The famous Perseid meteor shower has been observed for about 2000 years, with the first known information on it coming from the Far East. Perseids came to be known later as the “Tears of St. Lawrence.”

Nilo said meteors in a shower appear to come from one area of the sky, but they melt as soon as they enter the earth’s atmosphere due to extreme heat.

Source: Philippine Star