AMMAN — Stargazers and astronomy
enthusiasts are invited to observe a spectacular show on August 12 and 13, when
the Perseid meteor showers will illuminate the skies of the Middle East,
including the Kingdom, shooting up to 100 meteors per hour at their peak,
according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
اضافة اعلان
Meteor showers are celestial events in which several
meteors appear to originate from a single point in the night sky. This occurs
as the Earth travels through streams of cosmic debris left behind by comets
and, in some cases, asteroids.
Cool Cosmos said the bits of comet debris, most of
them not larger than a grain of sand, create streaks of light in the night sky
as they burn when they enter earth’s atmosphere.
Perseid meteor showers can produce a shooting star
nearly once every minute, and are generally brighter than other meteor showers
throughout the year.
Jordanian
astronomer Imad Mujahid told Petra that the Perseid meteor shower can be seen
with the naked eye, even without using telescopes or any special equipment
because the meteors are extremely bright and leave persistent trails.
Mujahid suggested going to dark areas away from city
lights for a better experience, such as Wadi Rum in the south, which he said
will be the best location for a spectacular sky show.
Mujahid maintained that when dust atoms approach the
Earth, they typically enter the atmosphere at a speed of up to 70 kilometers
per second. The speed causes the dust atoms to collide with the Earth’s
atmosphere, creating intense heat that glows and briefly takes the form of
fiery arrows before going out.
He explained that meteors begin to glow at a height of 120
kilometers above the Earth’s surface, then burn and transform into ash at a
height of 60 kilometers. He noted that meteors rarely reach the Earth’s
surface, and if they do, they are so small that no one notices them.
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