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Celestial Display

category international | sci-tech | other press author Friday August 12, 2005 13:23author by triffid protection eye wear.

To put us all in our place, yeah verily its the annual night of the triffids.

the Swift Tuttle comet's debris annually colides with the planet Earth in mid August giving us all shooting stars which are called the Perseids.

You may approach this simple cosmic fact with awe and superstition, gasping and pointing and mkaing little wishes for world peace or higher wages or you may choose to be scientific about it and simply record time, brightness and suspected location of the drop. Its up to you.

The last time the comet itself was visible was in 1992, someday that comet will collide with us but not yet.
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Take yourself up a mountain this weekend, and count your lucky stars, and know that all over the planet oters are doing the same...

"looking up"

This year's show will be slightly clearer than last, as the Moon is not hindering visiblity, and as a special extra the planet Mars is visible.

the comet:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/109P/Swift-Tuttle
the meteorites-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids
http://www.physlink.com/Community/Forums/printthread.cfm?Forum=18&Topic=3888
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/22jul_perseids2005.htm

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/71491

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