Travellers to the Himalayas have often been heard telling tales of heavenly beauties (‘apsaras’) coming straight down from the skies in streaking shots of silver dust. Even while giving a margin to the magic of the Himalayas, these ‘landings of apsaras’ have been deciphered to be meteor showers. The sight of shooting stars dashing across the dark Himalayan sky studded with a zillion stars is something that would take anyone to another zone of reality, or magic perhaps.
A meteor shower occurs when Earth travels through the debris of asteroids or comets. Hitting the Earth’s atmosphere at scorching speeds, these pieces of dust and debris disintegrate in flashes of light.
Most meteor showers get their name from the constellations from which they appear to streak (though the constellations are not the actual source of the meteors). For example, the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks every year in August, appears to originate from the constellation of Perseus, named after Perseus, the son of Greek god Zeus. Meteors from the Leonid meteor shower in November appear to stream from the constellation of Leo.
Yes, the Perseid meteor shower, that has been observed for over 2,000 years, is all set to light up the night sky with a brilliant celestial show this weekend - August 11-13. And you don’t have to be in the Himalayas to view the beauties. You can watch them from anywhere, except South America, Australia, New Zealand and a few other places in the Southern Hemisphere.
The particles that burn up are tiny bits of rock and debris from an old comet, which is named Swift-Tuttle, after the astronomers who discovered it in 1862. Every year in early August, Earth passes through the orbit of the comet and sweeps up some of this debris.
The peak of activity is expected to happen late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. They become visible as they plunge into our atmosphere at 134,222 miles per hour. While the meteors are certainly bright, they could be as small as sand. But, travelling through the atmosphere at breakneck speeds, even these tiny particles can put up an impressive show. If you are patient enough, sky-gazers say we can count up to 60 shooting stars in an hour or more. That is, if there are no rain clouds or a bright moon to play spoilsport.
The Perseids are usually green, red or orange in colour, and some of the shower particles may even look like exploding fireballs. With a name referring to Perseus, the son of Zeus and the founder of the Perseid dynasty in Greek mythology, the showers are expected to rain into the atmosphere from the constellation Perseus, which rises in the northeast sky around midnight.
Digging a little into the Greek mythology, we find Perseus was the Greek hero who killed the Gorgons and Medusa, and claimed Andromeda, having rescued her from a sea monster sent by Poseidon. The ancient story has it that Danae was Perseus’ mortal mother, who had been visited in a shower of gold dust that was secretly symbolizing the entrance of Zeus.
Her father, the King of Argos-Acrisius, had hid her in a tower when he heard the oracle that she would bear a child who would kill a king. This may not have been such a special thing in itself, but the Greek God Zeus had heard of her beauty and visited her in a shower of gold dust, causing her to become pregnant with the prophesied child.
Be it the Himalayas or be it Greece, the event surely seems to have a lot of magic about it. Don’t miss it this year because the showers are so timed that you can still catch up on all your sleep on Sunday, after staying awake for a night’s brilliant celestial show.
(Don’t forget to Keep track of the Sci-bug every Saturday)
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