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Night of Falling Stars: A particularly large meteor shower was observed in the skies of the earth - Walla! news

2020-08-13T06:04:04.551Z


A large number of meteors appeared tonight and will continue this week, as part of the "Perseid shower", which is taking place over Israel. At the height of the celestial show tonight could be seen up to 100 meteors per hour. "It's an exciting week and it's a real thrill. There's nothing more beautiful than that," the chairman of the Astronomical Society described.


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Night of Falling Stars: An extra-large meteor shower was observed in the country's sky

A large number of meteors appeared tonight and will continue this week, as part of the "Perseid shower", which is taking place over Israel. At the height of the celestial show tonight could be seen up to 100 meteors per hour. "It's an exciting week and it's a real thrill. There's nothing more beautiful than that," the chairman of the Astronomical Society described.

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  • Meteors
  • falling stars
  • astronomy

Yoav Itiel

Thursday, 13 August 2020, 00:05 Updated: 07:55

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      Noa Levi

      "The Perseids' Rain", a particularly heavy rain of meteors, was observed last night (Thursday) in the skies of Israel. At its peak one could expect 100-80 "falling stars" per hour, and it will continue for the rest of the week. According to the Israeli Space Agency in the Ministry of Science and Technology, there were years when even more could be seen.

      This year, at the time of the meteor shower, the moon shines only after midnight so its light does not interfere with much of the celestial show. "We are happy for all the people of Israel who have come here," said Nadav Rotenberg, chairman of the Israeli Astronomical Society for the past five years. "It is an exciting week and it is a real thrill when you see a bright meteor in the sky. There is nothing more beautiful than this. Here it is possible to watch hundreds of meteors every night, both in the eye and on cameras that record everything. "

      According to the chairman of the association, which celebrates 72 like the state," We do it both for fun and for science. " He explained that "in fact we are documenting and measuring everything so that we can better predict in the coming years."

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      Meteor rain in the skies of the country, as seen from the Negev region, tonight (Photo: Ben Netanel)

      According to him, through the mapping of the meter, astronomers understand the density and trajectory of the particles in space. "It may not save the world, but we learn a lot from it about important aspects. Our meteor division has been doing this for 20 years, together with the International Meteor Organization," he explained. "It has to be said with full mouth that we have won in our Negev that there is darkness and there is 'high sky quality' above it, with weather that suits the views. It makes everything ideal for a week like this."

      Rotenberg spends the entire week in the Arava. He stayed at the 101st mile inn of Pomegranate Negro, where about 50 "talk-crazy" people gathered. He said that everyone is excited about the inn, and joins him to watch the meteor shower. "I am a high-tech man during the day, and at night I look up at the sky and watch the stars," he said. "I really like to share it with the public: youth, adults, everyone. That's actually the association's goal," added Rotenberg, who made it clear that the peak is expected tonight, but "as in the rain forecast we do not know exactly. Tomorrow we can say how it was today."

      More on Walla! NEWS

      Where can you see a star shower in the desert this week?

      To the full article

      Meteor rain in the Negev region, tonight (Photo: Ben Netanel) The best place to see a meteor shower is in a dark place. Meteor rain from the Negev region (Photo: Ben Netanel)

      The meteors originated in the remains of dust and rocks left behind by a comet in its orbit around the sun. When these remnants of dust and rocks, called meteorites, are trapped by the earth's gravity and enter the atmosphere, they ignite and become what we call a "falling star" or in its scientific name - a meteor. The Earth regularly crosses the orbit of these dust particles, which continue to orbit the Sun each year on known dates.

      The Perseids meter is the result of an Earth encounter with the trail of the comet Swift-Tuttle, which was recorded as early as 69 AD and is named after two people who in 1862 first documented it scientifically, one an amateur astronomer and the other a researcher from Harvard Observatory. This comet, besides being the source of the most famous meteor shower, has also been dubbed "the most dangerous object for the human race" - its orbit in the solar system brings dangerous proximity to Earth and raises fears of a future collision that could destroy much of life on earth. In the past it was thought that the comet could collide with the Earth as early as 2162 but this danger has been refuted and now there is talk of a chance of a collision (probability at a minimum rate of 0.0001%) in 4479.

      Meteor rain in the Negev region, tonight (Photo: Ben Netanel)

      The best place to see meteor showers is in a dark place with little "light pollution", like the desert for example. The Israeli Space Agency, in collaboration with the Mitzpe Ramon Local Council, this year invited the public to come to the desert and watch the rain. The event includes observations with giant telescopes and lectures by scientists.

      Extraordinary traffic loads were recorded in the Negev region due to the thousands of hikers who came to the area to watch the Perseids rain. Heavy traffic was recorded between the Tlalim junction to the Ramon Crater through the main axis of Mitzpe Ramon and the Baha'i city junction to Yeruham.

      The Lake Yeruham Park area was also filled with hikers and the public was asked not to reach the area. Road 211.

      Space Agency: "An opportunity to arouse interest in who the future generation will be"

      "I do not know whether to rejoice or be saddened by this warning," he told Walla! NEWS Itai Levy from the Israeli Space Agency, who spent the night in the southern Golan and tomorrow will travel to Mitzpe Ramon, where he will coordinate the activity. "For our part, we are happy about the great interest in the phenomenon all over the country. It is recommended to expect less humid areas and the Golan Heights also has excellent conditions in this respect."

      He added that this year, because of the corona and the ban on gatherings, "we have deployed the space agency's activities both geographically and in space of time and have also offered a do-it-yourself kit to the general public." "This week is an opportunity to arouse interest in those who will be the future generation, those who will research and establish startups. This week makes it possible to present the field to the general public who do not know it." He reported that there are "a lot of people watching" in the Golan Heights as well, and explained that there is a lot of interest this year, perhaps because people have not gone abroad and are looking for nature activities in the country. We see a lot who took a tent and a mat and the kids and went camping to watch the meteors. "

      Levy went on to add that" the peak of the rain does happen tonight, Wednesday and Thursday, but the moon will rise at midnight so tomorrow night when it rises a little later there will be great conditions. The Perseids' of the Year. "He noted that the Perseids meter is characterized by most bullets," fireballs ", as their popular name is, which are relatively large meteors for most meteors and some of which even leave a trail of light for a few seconds to a few minutes after the bullet. Levy promised:" "Those who watch a whole night have a good chance of catching one like that."

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        Source: walla

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