Astronomy in Brunei Darussalam
Bandar Seri Begawan – The Perseid meteor shower will peak on the weekends (from August 10 till 13,2018). Weather permitting, the best time to view the wonderful spectacle from Brunei is after midnight, when the shower’s radiant is higher in the Northeastern sky from the constellation Perseus.
Continue reading “Perseids on August 10 – 13: 2018 Best Meteor Shower”
Bandar Seri Begawan – In the predawn hours of December 13, 2015, as the Earth began to sweep through a dense remains of debris from asteroid 3200 Phaethon, these falling space debris burned up in the atmosphere and caused bright flashes in the sky known as shooting stars or geminids meteor showers.
The Geminid shower got its name from the constellation of Gemini or the Twins. From Tutong, there were about 10 meteors in an hour visibled on that morning. The rate is expected to increase as the annual geminid meteor shower peaks tonight (13-14 December 2015). That is when more than 50 shooting stars might be visible every hour (depending on your location/sky). Geminids can be spotted starting between 10 pm and before sunrise, and expected to peak at around 2 am. Continue reading “Brilliant Geminid Meteor Shower Dazzles Brunei Sky”
SKYWATCHERS in Brunei and around the world had the opportunity to witness the annual astronomical spectacle of Geminids meteor shower last night. Every year on December 14, the Earth comes across the particles of residue from Comet 3200 Phaethon.
Upon entering the Earth’s atmosphere, these comet dusts burn and vaporise, thus producing bright meteor trails. The natural phenomenon produces rapid streaks of light or better known as shooting stars which are visible to the naked eyes. These meteors appear to radiate from a point in the sky of constellation Gemini, thus its name ‘Geminids’.
There were also reports from the Astronomical Society of Brunei Darussalam’s Facebook page stating that some even witnessed up to six shooting stars in half an hour that night.
// Press release – Borneo Bulletin