Perseids Meteor Shower
Pray to a star!
A meteor is famous for the myth that if you pray three times while it shines,
the prayer will be answered. Now is a annual chance to see the meteors.
It is a season of Perseids, As you know, and as newspapers and TVs report.
The highlight of this year is the night from August 12 to 13. This year Moon
is not in the sky until dawn at the night and you can see meteors without
disturbance of Moon light.
How to see meteors
You can see meteors with no special instlements.
The easiest way is going where you can see many stars and watching the sky
for a while.
But you cannot predict when and where a meteor appears. So you had better
make some preparations and you can see much more meteors.
Where to see
To see many meteors, find a plece where the sky is open and no lights
are around such as town lights or vending machines.
If some lights are around, your eyes fade away and it becomes harder to
catch weak lights of stars and meteors.
But Japan is full of lights and has few really dark places.
Anyway you had better find a place far away from lights if possible.
Lie and relax
You have to look overhead to catch many meteors.
But because a meteor appears only once for some minutes or dozens of minutes,
keeping to look overhead causes neckache.
The good way is to lie on earth and see the sky.
Lying on a picnic seat or a beach chair is a good idea.
The point is to relax.
Then all you have to do is to look the sky dreamily and wait for a meteor's
appearance.
Background musics or some friends make it more enjoyable.
But never make a noise and give troubles if someone are also observing
meteors besides you.
Accustom your eyes to the darkness
Just after going out of your bright room, you cannot see many stars because
your eyes is not accustomed to the darkness.
Let's see the night sky for 10 or 15 minutes and you come to be able to
see more stars gradually.
Probably you can see some meteors luckily at that time.
Then let's start to observe meteors in earnest.
You will catch at least one meteor for some minutes, and some ones for 30
minutes.
Never switch on your flashlight during observing meteors because it makes
your eyes get dizzy.
Not only at night on August 12!
Perseids is not a event at night of August 12.
You can see many meteors of Perseids for about a week around the day,
of course the number of meteors is about half of the highlight night.
Possible to see also in the city!
Darkness is an important factor to see meteors.
But you don't have to give up seeing meteors even in the city.
Perseids has many bright ones and some fireballs are observable even in
the city.
Let's find a place with fewer lights, accustom your eyes to darkness and
you can see much more meteors than expected.
Now all we can do is to hope the August 12 night will be fine.
Let's see meteors and you will be absorbed in it.
Pictures gallery of Perseids
The Big Dipper and a meteor
A meteor with rainbow color
A meteor over the horizon
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The Big Dipper and a meteor
A meteor with rainbow color
A meteor over the horizon