Monday, 30 August 2010

5 "must-see at least once in a lifetime" Celestial events

Most of the travellers choose their destinations based on the wonders of the world. Some of them, choose them for the wonders of the universe.

There are some beautiful celestial events that are visible only on certain locations on Earth at certain times. Their rarity and poor availability, combined with their beauty, drives people to travel to be able to see them.

Here is a list of 5 events worth seeing at least once in a lifetime. For each one of them I wrote a blog post on their nature and how and when to find them:

  1. Aurorae
  2. Solar Eclipse
  3. Midnight Sunset
  4. Milky Way
  5. Meteor Shower

Enjoy.

1. Aurora

Aurorae

Aurorae are one of the most impressive views of a night sky and they are very famous to be an event that not all the skies can host.
They happen around the polar regions, both in the northern and southern hemisphere taking respectively the more common name of northern and southern lights.
The curvy movements and the lightness with which they fly across the sky is a really hypnotizing and fascinating sight that cannot leave even the most apathetic man without a "wow" out of his lips.

[This is a post which is part of the series: 5 unmissable celestial events]

Monday, 23 August 2010

2. Solar Eclipse

Anular eclipse at sunset

Solar eclipses are natural phenomena that occur when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, obscuring the latter.
This event is so unnatural that it astonishes and amazes not just humans, but many others living creatures. Studies have shown that animals react strangely to solar eclipses. Their behaviour is driven by the absence of sunlight where there should be and, in fact, depending on the animal, they usually prepare to sleep.

 [This is a post which is part of the series: 5 unmissable celestial events]

Monday, 16 August 2010

3. Midnight Sunset

Midnight Sun

The midnight sun is a quite surreal phenomenon happening in very northern or southern latitudes, nearby the polar regions. It is nothing more than having the sun out in the sky, only, at midnight!
What is stunning, though, is that (it depends on the latitude and the season) the sun does not set, but remains still on the horizon before rising again and giving sleepless "nights" to visitors.

 [This is a post which is part of the series: 5 unmissable celestial events]

Monday, 9 August 2010

4. Milky Way

milky way, our galaxy

A starry sky is always a very relaxing and touching view, and often, if we spend some time to contemplate it, when our eyes are well adapted to darkness, we could spot some steady "white clouds" between the stars.
Fortunately that is no premonition of rain, because those clouds are well beyond the Earth's atmosphere. That is the Milky Way, no less than the very galaxy we live in!

[This is a post which is part of the series: 5 unmissable celestial events]

Monday, 2 August 2010

5. Meteor Shower

meteor shower

Seeing a falling star is a peculiar event. Its rarity permitted the birth of the popular conception of expressing a desire when seeing one. But maybe this habit founds more solid roots in the fact that people nowadays spend a very little time looking at a night sky, than on the rarity of the event itself.
Millions of meteoroids are in orbital collision with the Earth every day and we should thank our atmosphere that only a tiny percentage reach the ground with much smaller sizes than the original object. On certain seasons the frequency of falling meteors is so high that the event is called meteor shower. But why the Earth is tormented by these intruders?

 [This is a post which is part of the series: 5 unmissable celestial events]