One of the year`s most fascinating sky events, the Perseid meteor shower has a rate of around 100 meteors per hour from a radiant near the North Star, where the Perseid meteoroids strike the Earth`s atmosphere and burn up.
Running from late July to mid-August this year, the meteor shower will hit its peak at around 2 a.m. Saturday but will be up against an unwelcome guest.
The full moon that will appear at that time might wash out the fainter meteors and dim the brightness of the visible ones, the bureau said.
"You should feel very lucky if you are able to see one-tenth of the Perseids when they go head-to-head against a full moon," said
Cheng Chen-fong, an engineer with the CWB`s astronomical observatory. To get the best look at the meteor shower, Cheng suggested that amateur astronomers go to southern Taiwan because there is less pollution there than in other parts of the country, CNA reported.
(T.A045/C/H-AK/H-AK)
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
