You’ve probably heard it in the news from time to time: ‘Tonight you can see a lot of shooting stars!’ In this article, you’ll learn all about shooting stars, discover the best times of the year to see them, and get tips on how to prepare for a perfect evening under the (shooting) stars.
What are shooting stars?
Shooting stars are not real stars. They are particles of dust floating in space. Sometimes such a particle ends up in our atmosphere. Because this happens at an enormous speed, the particle burns up due to friction with the air particles in the atmosphere. This looks like a small, fast flash of light in the sky.
Shooting stars are also called meteors. Very bright shooting stars are called fireballs or bolides. These are chunks of space debris that are larger than a particle of dust. If such a chunk is big enough to survive the journey through the atmosphere and lands on Earth, the remaining piece of rock is called a meteorite.
When can you see shooting stars?
You can see a few shooting stars every night, most of them in the early morning. These are called sporadic meteors.
A few times a year, a meteor shower is active. Then, many more shooting stars can be seen than on an ordinary night. That’s definitely worth watching! The best-known shower is undoubtedly the Perseids in August. But there are more opportunities in the year when you can see a lot of shooting stars! Below, I’ve listed the most important and beautiful recurring meteor showers.
Radiant: the point in the sky where the shooting stars appear to originate from.
ZHR (“Zenithal Hourly Rate”): the maximum number of shooting stars from a shower that you could see every hour under perfect conditions. In practice, you’ll never see that much!
- Lyrids (active from April 16 to 25, radiant: Lyra/Hercules, ZHR: 18)
Beautiful shower, the first one of the year after a few months of lower shooting star activity. Sometimes there are fireballs among them. - Eta Aquarids (active from April 19 to May 28, radiant: Aquarius, ZHR: 60)
Shower with many fast shooting stars with glowing trails. - Perseids (active from July 17 to August 24, radiant: Perseus/Cassiopeia, ZHR: 100)
The Perseids are probably the most well-known shooting stars. They are active in July and August, with the peak around August 12th. With a bit of luck, you can see dozens of shooting stars per hour. - Orionids (active from October 2 to November 7, radiant: Orion, ZHR: 23)
The Orionids are very fast meteors that often leave glowing trails. The dust particles that cause these shooting stars originate from the famous Halley’s Comet. - The Geminids (active from December 7 to 17, radiant: Gemini, ZHR: 120)
The Geminids are a lot less well-known than the Perseids from August, but they are just as beautiful and feature many bright meteors. Highly recommended! - Quadrantids (active from January 1 to 5, radiant: Bootes, ZHR: 120)
One of the richest meteor showers of the year, but with a very short peak: if this occurs during the day, you’ll miss the best part of the shower. However, it’s worth checking out in the nights around the peak to see if you can spot some.
In addition to these well-known meteor showers, there are also showers that usually don’t produce many shooting stars, but in some years experience outbursts when hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen! Examples of such showers are the Draconids (October 6-10) and the Leonids (November 10-23). It is difficult to predict when such an outburst will occur, so keep an eye on the sky when these showers are active!
Do you want to be kept informed about upcoming meteor showers? Follow us on social media or download our app Nightshift!
How can you best enjoy shooting stars?
Below are some tips to make the most out of your meteor-watching nights.
Tip: observe with the naked eye
Shooting stars can appear anywhere in the sky. Therefore, it is not very useful to use binoculars or a telescope, because you will only see a smaller part of the sky. Watching shooting stars is something that you preferably do with the naked eye.
Tip: make sure to have an unobstructed view of the night sky
Because shooting stars can appear anywhere, it’s important to keep as much of the sky in view as possible. If you’re surrounded by buildings or trees, you’ll see far fewer shooting stars. Therefore, choose an observation spot that provides a nice, open view of the night sky above you. Bring a reclining chair or lounge chair so you don’t strain your neck by looking up all the time. Lie down comfortably, relax, and keep an eye on the night sky.
Tip: make sure it’s really dark
The darker it is, the more shooting stars you can see. So make sure it is completely dark and that the moon is below the horizon. Moonlight makes the night sky much brighter, making it harder to see meteors.
Tip: choose the right moment
The best nights to watch shooting stars are the nights when a meteor shower is at its maximum activity. Follow Waddensky on social media or download our Nightshift app to stay updated on active meteor showers.
All meteor showers have a radiant, which is the point in the sky where all the meteors of the shower appear to originate from. The higher the radiant is above the horizon, the more shooting stars you can see. Most meteor showers are named after the constellation in which the radiant is located, I mentioned these for the well-known showers above. So, if you want to know when a shower is best seen, you should check when the constellation from which they appear to radiate is high above the horizon during the nights when the shower is at its peak.
Tip: dress warmly
Even summer nights can be quite chilly, especially if you plan to stay outside for a while. Therefore, it is important to dress warmly and wear multiple layers of clothing to keep yourself comfortable. Don’t forget to wear a hat and gloves to keep your head and hands warm. Additionally, consider bringing a blanket or sleeping bag to wrap yourself in while lying down to watch the shooting stars.
Tip: make sure to have good company and some snacks
Watching shooting stars is an incredibly fun activity to do with a group of fellow observers. You never know when and where a shooting star will appear! And how cool is it when a bright meteor is visible right above you and everyone sees it at the same time?
Make sure to bring some warm drinks or tasty snacks and turn the night into a cozy event!
Have fun!
Now that you know what shooting stars are, which meteor showers can be seen throughout the year, and have received some tips to make the most of your night, all that’s left is to go out and watch them. Have fun!