ENGLISH/INGLIŻ

The world’s most popular meteor shower of the year is finally here! The Perseids, as it’s called, reaches its peak in the first half of this week. The peak nights will be in the extremely early hours of Friday 13/8 and Saturday 14/08. With typical rates of up to 80 meteors an hour, it is one of the most active meteor showers of all. The Moon is still in its early crescent phase, and since it sets in the evening, the late night sky is completely dark. This provides ideal viewing conditions. If you wish to enjoy this celestial event to the full, make sure you find yourselves a spot as far away as possible from light pollution. Go to a dark area in the countryside, and prepare to sit outside for a few hours. It takes about 30 minutes for your eyes to completely adjust to the dark, and the longer you wait, the more you’ll see. These meteors will appear to radiate out of the constellation Perseus, hence their name. This constellation appears in the night-sky towards the North-east. Looking directly overhead will maximize your chance to observe the meteors. A meteor shower consists of pieces of comet debris heating up whilst entering the atmosphere and burning up in a bright burst of light, streaking a vivid path across the sky as they travel at 59 km per second. When they’re in space, these pieces of debris are called meteoroids, but when they reach Earth’s atmosphere, they’re designated as meteors.

 

MALTI/MALTESE

L-aktar episodju ta’ stillel feġġejja popolari madwar id-dinja reġa wasal. Il-Perseids, kif inhuma magħrufa, se jilħqu l-aqwa tagħhom fl-ewwel nofs tal-ġimgħa li ġejja. L-aqwa ħinijiet se jkunu fis-siegħat bikrija tal-Ġimgħa 13/8 u s-Sibt 14/8. B’rata ta’ madwar 80 stilla feġġejja fis-siegħa, il-Perseids huma waħda minn l-aktar episodji ta’ stillel feġġejja attivi. Il-Qamar għadu fl-istadju tal-bidu, u peress li jinżel matul filgħaxija, is-sema jkun mudlam għal kollox billejl. Jekk tridu tgawdu dan l-avveniment ċelestjali tridu ssibu post il-bogħod kemm jista jkun imdallam. Morru f’post imdallam fil-kampanja, u stennew biex toqgħodu hemm għal xi ftit siegħat. L-għajnejn idumu madwar 30 minuta biex jakklimatiżżaw. Aktar ma tistenna, aktar se tara stillel feġġejja. Dawn se jkunu jfeġġu mill-konstellazjoni Perseus. Din il-konstellazjoni tidher lejn il-grigal. L-aħjar mod hu li tħares dirett il-fuq. Stillel feġġejja huma biss frak ta’ debris li tħalli warajja kometa. Dawn jinġibdu mid-dinja. Huma u deħlin fl-atmosfera jisħnu u jinħarqu. Dawn jidhru bħal linja ta’ dawl għal ftit sekondi, peress li jkunu għaddejjin b’veloċita ta’ madwar 59 kilometru fis-sekonda. Meta jkunu għadhom fl-ispazju, dawn l-hekk imsejjħa stillel feġġejja ngħidulhom metjoriti.