Cyprus Nature

Meteor Shower to be seen in Cyprus

on 12th August 2015

Shooting stars are to light up the night sky in a spectacular natural show on the evening of August 12.

The meteor shower known as Perseids occurs annually worldwide.

The stars fall though out August but for Cyprus the greatest time to witness the meteor showers will be on the evening of Wednesday August 12.

The thrilling phenomenon will see stars falling at around 60kmh and are predicted to be visible from Nicosia until Larnaca.

No specialist equipment is needed to watch the stars falling.

Perseids are also known for their fireballs. Fireballs are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak.

The Perseids arrive every year roughly from mid-July to late August when Earth passes through the path of a comet called Swift-Tuttle.

The “shooting stars”, are a result of debris falling from the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle bursting into Earth’s atmosphere.

The best place to look to see as many meteors as possible is not at the radiant itself, but at any dark patch of sky which is around 90° away from it, since it is at a distance of around 90° from the radiant that meteors will typically appear at their brightest.

The radiant is the point in the sky from which the Perseids appear to come from and  is the constellation Perseus. The constellation of Perseus is also where we get the name for the shower: Perseids. Note: The constellation for which a meteor shower is named only serves to aid viewers in determining which shower they are viewing on a given night. The constellation is not the source of the meteors.

The recommended time to view the sky lighting up is between 9:00pm and 11:00pm on August 12.

Source: in-cyprus (Read this and more news on in-cyprus by clicking the link)