15 and 16 August 2009
Scores of amateur astronomers hoping to witness a dazzling Perseid meteor shower in the south of England were disappointed after half the country was covered by clouds.
The phenomenon, which happens each summer as the Earth's orbit takes it through debris scattered by the tail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, had been due to reach its peak in the early hours of this morning.
However, spectacular scenes were witnessed in north America, the Middle East and parts of Europe, with up to 100 meteors an hour streaking through the skies.
Several national parks in California took advantage of the celestial event to hold family camping events, including one at Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe.
Top seven viewing sites
The trust’s top seven recommended viewing sites - weather permitting - are:
- The chalk downland of Salisbury Plain near Stonehenge in Wiltshire
- Friar’s Crag in Cumbria
- Black Down on the South Downs in West Sussex
- Teign Valley in Devon, near Castle Drogo
- Penbryn Beach on the Ceredigion coast in Wales
- Wicken Fen nature reserve in Cambridgeshire
- Mam Tor in Derbyshire’s Peak District.
Desert delight: A crowd gathers to catch a glimpse of the lightshow in Dubai
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Source: Dailymail
