2024-08-12 23:14:36
In mid-August, the famous Perseids will once again roar across the night sky. Up to 30 meteors per hour are visible on clear nights.
Midsummer is shooting star season: in mid-August, thanks to the legendary Perseid meteor shower, countless shooting stars can be seen in the sky with the naked eye. This year, the meteor shower will be best observed early on Monday morning and overnight into Tuesday. If the weather is clear, observers will be able to see a meteor darting across the sky every two minutes.
The first Perseids appear in the sky as early as the end of July. Their number then increases before reaching their peak on Monday afternoon – exactly when it is daylight in Germany. In the nights around the maximum, i.e. from Sunday to Monday and from Monday to Tuesday, 20 to 30 meteors per hour will still be visible, according to the Association of Star Friends and the House of Astronomy in Heidelberg.
The waxing moon sets before midnight and, as it is very low above the horizon, it causes little disruption. The Perseids also often show quite bright meteors, which can also be seen in moonlight.
The August meteors have always marked a fixed date in the astronomical calendar for shooting star fans: The Perseids are the only large meteor shower in the summer and one of the most productive of all. The summer shooting stars owe their name to the constellation Perseus. The Perseids appear to originate from this constellation – astronomers refer to this point of radiation as the radiant.
In reality, however, the shooting stars come from the Earth’s immediate vicinity. On its orbit around the sun, our planet crosses a cloud of tiny particles every year between mid-July and the end of August that the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, discovered in 1862, left behind on its orbit around our central star.
When the Earth encounters the cosmic dust trail of this comet, which returns every 133 years or so, the comet dust particles, often no larger than a pinhead, penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere at 60 kilometers per second – a speed of 216,000 km/h. At an altitude of 80 to 100 kilometers, the small dust particles then create the light phenomena known as shooting stars. In reality, it is not the particles themselves that glow, but the air around them, which is heated up by the friction.
The larger meteors shine as brightly as bright stars and planets when they enter the atmosphere. Even brighter, but also correspondingly rarer, are the so-called fireballs. These spectacular meteors often leave a colorful glowing tail behind them.
Skywatchers don’t need any special equipment to observe the Perseids – a deck chair or a sleeping mat and a good all-round view are enough. Binoculars or even telescopes are actually a hindrance when it comes to spotting the meteors, which burn up in a matter of seconds, because the field of view of such instruments is far too small for the nimble sky cruisers.
The best place to observe is far away from cities flooded with artificial light. If you want to photograph the meteor shower, you should use a wide-angle lens, mount the camera on a tripod and choose a long exposure.
The August meteors are popularly known as the tears of St. Lawrence. The name is reminiscent of Saint Lawrence, who was martyred on August 10, 258, under the rule of the Roman Emperor Valerian. Since then, according to legend, fiery tears have always rained down on this day.