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Night S. Lorenzo, double show: meeting between shooting stars and planets

Double celestial show on the nights of falling stars, the light rain of meteors, which this year promises to be dense and extraordinary for its visibility, will be preceded by an unusual phenomenon at sunset: three planets next to each other, apparently very close, forming a small triangle horizon.

The meteor shower called Tears of St. Lawrence because it breaks the atmosphere of the Earth to coincide with the anniversary of the saint's death (which falls on August 10) is actually visible from this evening and the next six -7 days but the peak intensity is expected on August 13, shortly before dawn, when you could count dozens of shooting stars per hour, maybe even hundreds, of average brightness and the brightest. "Unlike last year - says Gianluca Masi, an astrophysicist at the Planetarium of Rome and head of the Virtual Telescope - the peak will fall at night and by day, also the moon, almost absent, yet the first quarter, will not bring any interference with its shining. "
This year there will be a very rare astronomical coincidence: in these evenings of August, at sunset, you can see, looking west, Venus, Mars and Saturn, forming a small triangle in the sky. On 12 and 13 August, the twilight meeting, say the experts of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) will see the entrance on the scene of a fourth host, a sickle moon in its crescent phase. The celestial show Aug. 12 will do so as a prelude to the maximum intensity of the meteor swarm.
The Board of Masi is to go to poorly lit areas, preferably on the slopes, look to the east, direction of the constellation Perseus which the Perseids get their name because the luminous trails seem to come from a period (the so-called radiant) located in the constellation Perseus. But if you want to enjoy the show it is better to concentrate the observations in the second part of the night when the phenomenon appears more visible because the radiant is higher in the sky and Earth appear to meet the swarm of dust particles left by the comet in its orbit Swift Tuttle.
Like every year, for the night of the shooting stars were seen in organized events and parties throughout Italy. Goblets of Stars including scheduled August 10, an initiative of City of Wine Wine Tourism Movement in collaboration with the Italian Amateur Astronomers Union. The Lipu (Italian Bird Protection League) opens the night of August 10, six oases and reserves for "Star Night" with guided tours and observations by amateur astronomers. Banner nights of shooting stars in some WWF, national parks and museums such as the Belluno Dolomites National Park and the Town Museum which will open to the public observatory of Monte Zugna.