Meteor shower hits Assam sky !

Sky watchers may get a treat starting 10th August , 2010 night as the famous Perseids meteor shower is expected to peak, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said. Several Sky observers enjoyed the event from different parts of Assam. The Perseids meteor shower is considered among the "most reliable," being seen usually between August 10 and 14. The famous Perseids meteor shower will be observed with its peak on the late night of August 12 until dawn on the following day, meteors are easiest to see if there is no moonlight and light pollution. An exceptional shower may occasionally show tens or even hundreds of meteors per minute, but around 50 meteors per hour is more typical.

On the other hand, it said the famous Summer Triangle formed by the stars Vega, Deneb and Altair of the constellations Lyra, Aquila and Cygnus, respectively, is being well placed above the eastern horizon. Scorpius and Sagittarius are the most prominent constellations in the southern night sky, it added. The largest visible star in the sky is Antares, a reddish Red-giant star which is the prominent star in the constellation of Scorpius, the Scorpion. Experts said groupings of naked eye planets will adorn skywatchers as they will see Mars, Venus, Saturn and Mercury in the western horizon 30 minutes after sunset. At around 8 p.m. of Aug. 13, the crescent Moon will join the groupings of Mars, Venus, Saturn and Mercury. At around 9 p.m. of Aug. 22, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune will be at 14, 16 and 39 degrees above the eastern horizon and will be glowing at magnitude -2.8, +5.7 and +7.8, respectively.

"Jupiter and Uranus will lie among the background stars of the constellation Pisces, the Fish while Neptune will be found among the stars of the constellation Aquarius, the Water Bearer. A modest size telescope will be needed to observe Neptune and the Blue-Green planet, Uranus," they said.