This is the best way to watch the Perseids.

The Perseids are back. Observing conditions are good this year. Three tips for stargazing.

On the nights through August 24 this year, there will be more meteors streaking across the sky again. It’s the time of the Perseids — tiny pieces of rock that broke off from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle and spread out along its orbit around the sun. The meteor shower will peak this summer on the night of August 12-13.

The Perseids are the most famous swarm of shooting stars. They put on a show in the sky on the warm midsummer nights of July and August. However, in winter, the Leonids, Geminids, and Quadrantids often attract die-hard outdoor astronomy enthusiasts.

What is the best way to watch the Perseids?

Tip 1: Find a really dark place away from the light of the settlement! Drive out, look at the really dark hills in the area and scan the sky for any signs – preferably with a view to the northeast. Don't use binoculars! To catch a glimpse of the fast-burning snails, you don't need zoom, just a careful panoramic view with the naked eye.

Tip 2: Take your time! And don't look at the bright cell phone screen every now and then! It takes our eyes a good half hour to fully get used to the dark. Every glance at bright light prevents our eyes from fully switching to that wonderful built-in night mode.

Tip 3: Be on the lookout early in the morning! The Perseids are tiny bits of dust that originally belonged to a comet. They form a very long cloud of comet dust that Earth passes through every summer. It’s like our planet passing through a sandblaster. During this journey through the comet’s stream of debris, Earth continues to rotate naturally, and in the early morning hours, it rotates so much that we can look directly at the incoming comet dust. This is why most meteors can be spotted right before dawn.

Best opportunities from 3am

If you follow these tips, you should be able to spot the Perseid meteor shower this year. The meteor stream will peak during the afternoon of August 12. Since it's still daytime, the actual peak of the Perseid shower won't be visible – but the following night, August 12-13, is still your best chance of spotting some brief flashing streaks of light in the sky.

To astronomers’ surprise, a second peak was formed in 2021 and 2023, which was recorded about 30 hours after the first peak of the meteor shower. If it happens again this year, the number of Perseids visible should also increase slightly on the evening of August 13.

However, you shouldn't expect too much: the 100 meteors that are advertised frequently per hour can only be seen under absolutely ideal conditions. In fact, in a good location away from urban light, the Perseids should be visible every few minutes.

The Perseids can be seen every August.

The Perseids are named after the constellation Perseus because they appear to move across the sky in all directions from the center of the constellation. In fact, the meteor doesn’t come from the stars of Perseus, but from Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Small particles that broke off from it along the comet’s orbit spread out into space as a cloud of dust. This dust cloud passes Earth once a year. The denser the dust at the point where Earth flies through the cloud, the stronger the maximum impact from the shooting star. The next strong Perseid year isn’t expected until 2028.

For a particle to become a meteor, it doesn't have to be very large. The size of a microcosm is far enough away. The bright glow is primarily due to the high speed of the debris coming from space: the Perseids race into Earth's atmosphere at speeds of up to 50 kilometers per second.

They compress the air and heat it up so much that it begins to glow. The comet's dust particles also become heated in the process and evaporate. But the glow you see on Earth doesn't come from the particles, it comes from the luminous air.

Perseid pieces can fall to the ground.

The larger the Perseid fragments are, the deeper they can penetrate the atmosphere. The very bright, low-flying fragments are called fireballs. Networks of cameras record the very rare pieces that reach Earth. If their trajectory can be reconstructed, search teams will begin recovering material from space.

However, finding a handful of meteor remains in a few square kilometers of search area is not always possible. The newly fallen Perseids must also be found within a few weeks, otherwise the falling leaves will hide the fresh meteors beneath.

Star shooting winter shower

If you can't complete your bucket list this time, you'll have the chance to see meteors more frequently throughout the year. In the colder months, there are three more meteor showers to spot.

In mid-November, the chances of meteors become very good again. Then the Leonid swarm reaches its peak. These shooting stars are exceptionally fast. The Leonids are formed by particles from Comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Geminids appear from mid-December until just before Christmas. The traces come from the area of ​​the sky in the constellation Gemini – Gemini in Latin. This is how the Geminids got their name. In 1862, meteors suddenly appeared in December that had never been seen before at that time. At the time, astronomers reported up to 10 meteors per hour. They were amazed.

Because every year there were more and more: around 1900, 20 meteors per hour lit up on meteor nights in mid-December, and in the 1980s the number rose to 80. However, this phenomenon will not appear forever: the Geminids will continue to visit us throughout the 21st century, but shortly after 2100 the cosmic dust cloud will no longer cross the Earth's orbit. Then the Geminid show will end forever.

The Quadrantid swarm arrives between New Year's Day and January 10. Quadrantids appear in large numbers – but are not particularly bright. Their name comes from the fact that the meteors originate in what is called the “parietal quadrant”, formerly the northern part of the constellation Bootes. Although Quadrantids recur annually, where the meteors come from remains a mystery. Astronomers currently believe that asteroid 2003 EH1 is the culprit. It is itself the remains of a decaying comet.