Meteor Shower Delights Sky Observers
If you were up in the wee hours Monday morning and happened to be outside looking at the night sky you might have seen the spectacle known as the Perseid meteor shower.
The Perseid meteor shower is an annual event that has been occurring for the last 2,000 years. It happens each year, either in late July or early August, and happens as a result of the Earth passing through a trail of dust and ice from the comet Swift-Tuttle.
Scientist explain that the debris field Earth passes through send particles into Earth's atmosphere at more than 130,000 miles per hour which causes the material to burn up creating the meteors seen by those on Earth's surface.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"We saw some shooting stars in The Hague, Holland," Jocelyn Jones told Space.com, adding that seeing the event was "Super cool!"
Astronomers explained that the meteor shower gets its name because the event appears to originate from the constellation Perseus when observed from the earth's surface.
Those in the northern hemisphere had the best angle to look at the meteor shower and some were so excited to finally capture the event in pictures.
"It was an almost perfect night for Perseids observations, with temperatures in the high 70s and 80s," Maxim Senin told NBCNews.com. "It was a night anyone could stay out for hours, and even sleep outside."
Senin further revealed that he was gazing upon the nighttime sky along with about 50 people who all came together as part of an event organized by the Los Angeles Sidewalk Astronomers club. Senin stated that he witnessed at least 20 bright meteors throughout the night.
"In the beginning everyone was cheering and 'oooo'-ing for each meteor they saw, but there were so many after a while people stopped the oooos for the faint and short ones," Senin said.
