Mid-August is the time to look up at the night sky – the Persied meteor shower is happening! How many shooting stars can you count in a minute? If you miss the Persied shower, don’t worry–we can see meteor showers all throughout the year. The Draconids happen in early October and the Leonids are throughout the month of November.
The Persieds are named after the Perseus constellation where the shooting stars appear to radiate from. Can you find Perseus, the ancient warrior who saved the princess Andromeda from her chains and went on to slay Medusa? What about Cassiopeia, Andromeda’s mother, the sitting queen? It might seem odd, but we also have a constellation of a giraffe! Look for Camelopardalis near the North Star.Color in your own night sky and see what constellations you can find! Here’s a list of what you might find here:
1. Argo Navis2. Dorado
3. Columba
4. Caelum
5. Canis Major and Canis Minor
6. Lepus
7. Monoceros
8. Orion
9. Taurus
10, Gemini
11. Aries
12. Lynx
13. Perseus
14. Andromeda
15. Cassiopeia
16. Cepheus
17. Camelopardalis
18. Lacerta
19. Cygnus
20. Lyre