Google Logos Collection

Google Today (August 31, 2009) Celebrates Malaysia Independence on by displaying this logo on Google Malaysia Home page.

Hari Merdeka (Independence Day) is a national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule, celebrated on August 31. In a wider context, it is to celebrate the formation of Malaysia.

Google Celebrates Michael Jackson’s 51st Birthday Today (August 29th, 2009), on all its homepages by displaying this logo.

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009), known as the "King of Pop", was an American musician and one of the most commercially successful entertainers of all time. His unique contributions to music and dance, along with a highly publicized personal life, made him a prominent figure in popular culture for four decades. Read more on Wikipedia.

Happy Birthday Michael! We miss you!
May you live forever!

Google Today (25th August, 2009) Celebrates the 400th Anniversary of Galileo’s Telescope by displaying this logo on all its homepages.

Exactly 400 years ago today, on 25 August 1609, the Italian astronomer and philosopher Galilei Galileo showed Venetian merchants his new creation, a telescope – the instrument that was to bring him both scientific immortality and more immediately, a whole lot of trouble. Galileo’s discoveries were, perhaps predictably, not best welcomed by the Catholic church, and he spent the final decade of his life under house arrest. Read more on Wikipedia.

Google celebrates the Perseid meteor shower today with meteor shower logo on all its home pages. The shower is annually seen from August 8th to 14th, peaking today (August 12).

According to Wikipedia:
The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle. Meteor showers occur when Earth moves through a meteor stream. The stream in this case is called the Perseid cloud and it stretches along the orbit of the Comet Swift-Tuttle. The cloud consists of particles ejected by the comet as it passes by the Sun. Most of the dust in the cloud today is approximately a thousand years old.

The shower is visible from mid-July each year, with the greatest activity between August 8 and 14, peaking about August 12. During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour. They can be seen all across the sky, but because of the path of Swift-Tuttle’s orbit, Perseids are primarily visible in the northern hemisphere.

You can follow meteor sightings on Twitter at #perseid or #meteorwatch.
NASA offers some advice for the best viewing. For aspiring amateur astronomers, cnet.com lists some useful websites to help you get started.

Enjoy the Spectacle!