The Perseids meteor shower is expected to peak on Monday next week, with the up to 100 meteors per hour, with the number expected to reach more than 30 one or two days before and after, which will surely be a treat for stargazers.
The Perseids are named after the Greek hero Perseus, as the meteor shower appears to come from the eponymous constellation.
According to myth, Perseus slew the gorgon Medusa by cutting off her snake-covered head while viewing her reflection in his shield.
Photo: EPA-EFE 照片：歐新社
While the meteors are active from mid-July, the best time to see them is next Monday with the Perseids most visible in the northern hemisphere.
The Perseids arise when the Earth passes through dust that has been shed from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.
Derek Smale, program manager for the UK Space Agency said: “As we travel through it, that stuff cascades into our atmosphere and it’s travelling at phenomenal speeds so [it] heats up,” adding that many of the fragments are no bigger than a grain of sand.
Photo: EPA-EFE 照片：歐新社
Comets, sometimes referred to as “dirty snowballs,” are primitive objects that formed at the same time as the solar system, about 4.6bn years ago.
Lucie Green, a professor of physics at University College London and president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said: “It’s exciting to think that those tiny bits of dust are actually the leftover material from which the whole solar system formed. In that way, looking at this meteor shower has huge significance. Each streak of light a messenger from the past.”
According to NASA, up to 100 meteors can be seen streaking across the sky every hour during the Perseids shower — at least, Smale adds, where there are dark skies — with exceptionally bright meteors, known as fireballs, part of the show. Some fireballs can be as bright as Venus in the night sky, and even have colors of reds, blues or greens.
Photo: AP 照片：美聯社
Best time to watch the Perseid meteor shower in 2024
‧ Activity period: July 17 to Aug. 24
‧ Peak: Aug. 12, 13:00-16:00 GMT (Taiwan time from 21:00 on Aug. 12 to 00:00 on Aug. 13)
‧ Best viewing time: after midnight on August 11 and 12
‧ Best viewing location: Mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere
‧ Expected number of meteors during peak: 100 meteors per hour
(The Guardian, with staff writer)
8月12日將迎來英仙座流星雨極大期，預估流星數量每小時可達100顆，而且前後一、兩天也都可達30顆以上，將是一場觀星盛宴。
之所以稱做英仙座流星雨，是因流星雨看起來像是來自英仙座，而英仙座是以希臘神話英雄柏修斯為名。
神話故事說，柏修斯透過盾牌上的倒影看著蛇髮女妖梅杜莎，將她覆滿蛇的頭砍下，殺死了她。
雖然流星雨自七月中旬就開始活躍，但觀星的最佳時間是下週一，此時英仙座流星雨在北半球可見度最高。
當地球穿過由109P/斯威夫特-塔特爾彗星脫落的碎屑時，英仙座流星雨就會出現。
英國太空署計劃經理德里克．斯梅爾表示：「當我們穿越這些碎屑時，這些物質會像瀑布一樣進入我們的大氣層，且速度驚人，因此溫度會上升」。他並補充說，許多碎片不比一粒沙大。
彗星常被稱為「髒雪球」，是約46億年前與太陽系同時形成的原始天體。
倫敦大學學院物理學教授兼大眾天文學會主席露西．葛林說：「這些微小的塵埃實際上是形成整個太陽系的剩餘材料，這想來就令人興奮。因此，觀看這場流星雨有著巨大的意義。每一道光都是來自過去的使者」。
據美國太空總署表示，英仙座流星雨期間，每小時可看到多達100顆流星劃過天空——斯梅爾補充說，至少在黑暗的天空是如此——其中有異常明亮的流星，被稱為火球，這是英仙座流星雨的一部分。有些火球可像夜空中的金星一樣明亮，甚至有紅色、藍色或綠色等顏色。
2024年觀看英仙座流星雨的最佳時間
‧ 活躍期：7月17日至8月24日
‧ 極大期：8月12日，格林威治標準時間13:00-16:00 （台灣時間8月12日21:00至8月13日00:00）
‧ 最佳觀星時間：8月11日至12日午夜之後
‧ 最佳觀星地點：北半球中緯度
‧ 極大期預估流星數量：每小時100顆
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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