Cyprus to witness meteor shower during the weekend which follow Monday's lunar eclipse

As Cyprus get set to witness the only visible partial lunar eclipse in 2017 on Monday August 7, two more celestial phenomena are also expected in August, a Perseids meteor shower and a solar eclipse, the Kition Planetarium and Observatory has announced.

Perseids meteor showers have been occurring in July and August already, but a maximum visibility is expected in Cyprus from 5:00pm on Saturday August 12 until 6:00pm on Sunday August 13. 

Since it will be dark for a part of that time, there is an opportunity you can see many of the bright fireballs the shower produces.

And to make the most of it, people should aim to find a dark place outside an urban area to avoid too much light interfering with the view. Also the observers’ eyes need about 30 minutes to adjust to the dark.

The yearly Perseids meteor shower occurs when particles of the Swift-Tuttle comet enter the earth at the huge velocity of 58 kilometres per second.

These particles burn up, producing meteors described as shooting stars. When they are in space, the pieces are called meteoroids, when they reach the earth’s atmosphere they are named meteors and those that make it to the earth’s surface without burning are renamed meteorites.

In another phenomenon on Monday August 21, the moon will completely block the sun for a few minutes.

Though the complete solar eclipse will not be visible from Cyprus but only from a few European countries.

However, the Kition Planetarium and Observatory which has planned events around the lunar eclipse and the Perseids meteor shower on August 7 and 12 respectively have taken part in research on solar and lunar eclipses and their influence on European culture and has information on both.

According to the observatory, solar eclipses nowadays give valuable scientific information.

For instance, the corona, the outer layer of the sun, can be studied in detail. The corona is not usually visible due to the very bright solar surface.

Also, precise measurements of the diameter of the sun are made and theories of gravity are tested.