jordan pulse -

Skies over Jordan and the Arab world will host a striking astronomical event on the night of August 12-13, as the Perseid meteor shower — one of the most intense meteor showers of the year — produces around 100 meteors per hour.
Jordanian astronomer Emad Mujahed, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences, said the meteors will be clearly visible to the naked eye, with no telescope or observation equipment needed, appearing in the sky like fireworks.
He recommended observing the meteors from dark locations away from light pollution, such as Wadi Rum in southern Jordan, considered one of the best spots for viewing, where the meteors will appear even more vivid and beautiful.
He noted that some tourism operators are preparing to organize an astronomy camp in Wadi Rum to observe the Perseids and other planets through telescopes, adding that viewers will also be able to spot Jupiter and its moons, Saturn and its rings, as well as the Milky Way galaxy.
He explained that the Perseid meteor shower originates from Comet Swift-Tuttle, which astronomers have found leaves behind a trail of dust as it approaches the sun roughly every 130 years. Earth passes through this dust trail every year around August 13, which is why meteors appear in high numbers during this period.
Mujahed explained that meteors form when dust particles enter Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds — averaging around 70 kilometers per second — with the friction against the atmosphere generating intense heat that causes them to glow, appearing briefly as bright streaks of fire before burning out.
He noted that meteors begin burning up at an altitude of about 120 kilometers above Earth's surface, turning to ash by around 60 kilometers, which is why they rarely reach the ground — and on the rare occasions any fragments do, they're nothing more than tiny particles too small to be noticed.