Here they are again: the Perseids. The meteor shower reaches its peak on these nights. These are the best times to spot them (update 9/8)

Every year around mid-August, we prepare for the meteor shower from the Perseid meteor shower.

On Wednesday evening and Thursday evening, the meteor shower reached its peak. Between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., we can see about 50 to 70 shooting stars per hour.

The conditions are favorable, as there is hardly any moonlight. Don’t want to get out of bed in the middle of the night? Even in the hours around maximum, you see a lot more meteors than usual.

And also in the nights before and after the summit there are a lot of shooting stars to see

Dated	Best time	Max. number of meter ears
Monday, August 9, 2021	03:30	20
Tuesday, August 10, 2021	03:30	25
Wednesday 11 August 2021	03:30	34
Thursday, August 12, 2021	04:00	53
Friday 13 August 2021	04:00	69
Saturday 14 August 2021	04:00	52
Sunday 15 August 2021	04:00	35
Monday August 16, 2021	04:00	26
Tuesday, August 17, 2021	04:00	22
Source: Hemelwaarnemen.com

It’s the best way to see the shooting stars

Meteors are best seen with the naked eye. All you need is a clear sky and a dark place (artificial light interferes with perception). Put on warm clothes, bring a lounge chair if needed and enjoy!

Tip: Do not check your cell phone shortly before. Screen light ruins your night vision.

Lightning-fast space debris

Falling stars are pieces of space debris (rock and ice) that move at a speed of

more than 200 thousand kilometers by

hours to penetrate our atmosphere. Due to the friction with the air, they burn in the atmosphere. In this way, they trace their enchanting light trails along the firmament.

Cosmic dictionary

● Meteors:

This is called shooting stars. These are pieces of space debris that penetrate and burn our atmosphere

● Meteoroid:

These are called meteors before they reach our atmosphere

● Meteorites:

This is called meteors which do not completely burn up in the atmosphere and therefore strike the earth.

● Boliden:

This is called meteors so big they cause fireballs

Dangerous comet

The Perseids emerge from the tail (a long chain of space debris) of the comet

Swift-Tuttle

that grazes the earth every summer. This happens at a distance of about 20 million kilometers.

If Swift-Tuttle hit Earth, the impact would be devastating. The impact is said to be about 27 times stronger than the impact of the comet that ended the age of the dinosaurs millions of years ago.

But luckily, according to astronomers, Swift-Tuttle and Earth won’t collide for the next 2,000 years.

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