What could be more romantic than watching a meteor shower with your loved ones this coming Chinese Valentines' Day?
Although you might have missed the peak of the Perseid meteor shower last night, which produced more than 100 meteors per hour, you still have a chance to observe the bright streaks across the sky this Thursday night. The Perseids will be visible till the 24th of this month.
"After its peak [last night], only approximately 10 or so meteors can be spotted per hour from now till Aug. 24," said Chen Chun-lian (陳俊良), a researcher at the Taipei Astronomical Museum.
"Nonetheless, it still is a beautiful view," Chen said, adding that the Perseids are generally not as spectacular as last year's Leonids.
Last year's Leonids produced an amazing display of 1,000 to 200,000 meteors per hour.
According to Chen, the Perseids make an annual return to the summer sky in late July and are characterized by meteor speeds of up to 60km per second.
If the weather is clear, Chen said that the Perseids could be spotted in a dark-sky throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
"The constellation of Perseus will be low in the northeast," said Chen. "Then focus your eyes on the stars in the direction of Perseus and that is where you will see the meteors."
Chen added that the best time to view the meteors is after 9pm.
After the Perseids this month, Chen said people can look forward to the Draconids meteor shower between Oct 6 and Oct. 10. That shower is expected to produce about 20 to 500 meteors per hour.
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