Perseid meteor shower peaks August 11-12August 11, 2012 - 17:56 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The Perseid meteor display is upon us. Over the course of the next four days, Earth will plough through the debris stream left by a giant comet that has been circling the sun since the birth of the solar system, The Guardian reported. Each tiny cometary fragment that hits our atmosphere is usually no larger than a speck of dust. Yet it burns up with an incandescent display that we call a shooting star. If you want to get technical about it: a meteor. This year, the Perseids will be visible from the northern hemisphere between 11 and 14 August. Every Perseid you see was once in the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, a 27-kilometre-wide iceberg in space. It spends most of its time in the outer solar system, reaching beyond the orbit of Pluto. Then, every 133 years, it dives past the sun, replenishing the supply of Perseids. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |