"The star shower is so wonderful!" exclaimed Lu Ke, student from No.1 Middle School in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Uygur Region in northwest China.
A star shower from Perseus was visible in the skies above China early on Tuesday morning, attracting thousands of astronomy lovers from all over the country. The International Meteor Organization predicted that the Beijing times of 4:15, 6:30 and 16:30 on August 13 were the best for viewing this star shower.
Lu Ke and his classmate Zhu Ziyi saw 251 falling stars from 1:00 to 5:15 this morning. "This is the first time I have watched a star shower. I can't help being excited when the falling star streaks through the sky," said Zhu Ziyi.
Star-gazers in Beijing and Shanghai were not as lucky as those in Urumqi.
Although Beijing had a clear sky, city people saw fewer than 10 falling stars between 3:30 and 4:40 this morning, far lower than expected.
Beijing Planetarium experts predicted yesterday that the number of falling stars from Perseus this time would be much smaller than from Leo last year and it would be hard to get a good view. The planetarium did not organize astronomy lovers to watch the star shower this time.
Foggy weather in Shanghai disappointed many would-be watchers. Experts had predicted the weather would prevent any sighting of the star shower in the city skies. However, more than 200 star-gazers still gathered in the Constellation Plaza in southwest Shanghai.
At about 1:00 am, the first falling star streaked the sky with a bluish white light when the fog began to disperse in Shanghai. Students from Shangnai Middle School in Shanghai saw 4 falling stars. But thickening fog had blanketed the sky again by 2:00 am.
Star fans in Nanjing and Changchun failed to catch even one falling star because of the rainy and foggy weather.
Thousands of star-gazers swarmed to the observatory on the top of Zijin Mountain in Nanjing from 7:00 on the previous night.
Ge Yongliang, director of the observatory's popular sciences department, said that they had to sell tickets to control the crowd.
Though missing out on a star shower, many still enjoyed the experience of waiting for it.
Xu Hong, who is going to college next term, said: "Friendship is the most important thing. The star shower gave us an opportunity to get together. It's really exciting."
The Perseus star shower is one of three star showers that can be observed every year.
The earliest report in Chinese history of the Perseus star shower occurred in 36 AD, with more than 100 falling stars recorded. The number of falling stars in the 1993 Perseus star shower reached between 200 and 500, which led to an upsurge in star-gazing in China..
The star shower from Perseus this year was smaller scale, with only 100 stars falling per hour.
(People's Daily August 14, 2002)
