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Perseids over Spain: The summer falling stars
Photo: Cavan Images / imago images
This week the night sky offers a special spectacle: the falling stars of the Perseids.
As every year, so-called meteor streams can be observed from Earth in mid-August.
The climax of the sky spectacle is expected for the night from Thursday to Friday, in the night from August 12th to August 13th.
Around midnight, shooting stars could be seen almost every minute.
"Under optimal conditions you can see a meteor flitting across the sky every one or two minutes," reports the Association of Star Friends (VdS).
Even before and after the Perseids maximum, summer meteors can already be seen in the nocturnal firmament, but appear a little less often.
The moon is favorable
The prerequisite for catching a glimpse of the falling stars is a sky that is as cloudless as possible.
So the weather could put a spanner in the works for some.
Otherwise the circumstances are good.
The VdS said: "This year the conditions are particularly favorable, because the moon sets in the late evening." The rather thin crescent moon can only be seen until around 10.30 pm on the evening of August 12th.
The moonlight will not brighten the night sky and disturb the view of the falling stars.
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However, some particles burn up so brightly that they can be seen even in interfering light in large cities.
However, everyone who really wants to enjoy the falling stars is advised to go to a dark location where as few light sources as possible disturb the view of the sky.
It is also advisable to be patient: As a rule, the falling stars whiz across the sky in bursts and the eyes first have to get used to the darkness of the night.
Binoculars or telescopes are usually no help when looking at shooting stars: The meterore burns up so quickly that you can see them better with the naked eye and a wide field of vision than through a magnifying glass.
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.
Then the magic in the sky can be captured in pixels.
Debris from a comet
The summer shooting stars owe their name to the constellation of Perseus.
They seem to be coming from the direction of this cluster of stars.
In fact, a comet named 109P / Swift-Tuttle caused the fireworks: On its orbit around the sun, the earth crosses a cloud of small debris that this comet leaves behind on its orbit.
The dust particles, often only the size of a pinhead, penetrate the earth's atmosphere at a speed of 60 kilometers per second and burn up - around 80 to 100 kilometers above the surface of the earth.
The comet 109P / Swift-Tuttle was discovered in 1862 by Lewis Swift and Horace Tuttle independently of one another.
It takes around 133 years to travel around the sun.
According to calculations by astronomers, the next time it will be visible from Earth in the year 2126.
vki / dpa / AFP