Nights of the Perseids: Observatories invite you to take a look
Many shooting stars could be visible at the weekend and on Monday. Some observatories offer special events.
(Image: Sternwarte Riesa / Hoffmann)
Every year in August, the Perseids meteor shower reaches Earth. These are particles that the periodic comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle has lost in its orbit around the sun. They burn up in the atmosphere and become visible as shooting stars. It looks as if they are coming from the direction of the constellation Perseus, hence the name Perseids.
The stream is most active on the night of August 12 – 13. Up to 100 meteors per hour are possible. To mark the occasion, some observatories in Germany offer special events. We list some of them – without guarantee of completeness. The sky could also be cloudy this weekend, in which case some events could be canceled.
Friday
On Friday at 10 pm, the Gerhard-Franz-Volkssternwarte Tirschenreuth observatory in the Upper Palatinate is offering a lecture on the "Perseids - the tears of Laurentius"; if the sky is clear, participants can look through the telescope. Also today, shooting star enthusiasts will meet for the 23rd Riesa shooting star nights at Canitz airfield. The event planned for today at the Robert Mayer Observatory in Heilbronn is already sold out.
Saturday and Sunday
On Saturday, the St. Andreasberg Observatory in the Harz Mountains invites you to a night of the Perseids with lectures from 7 pm, while the shooting star night at the Neanderhöhe Observatory near Düsseldorf starts at 6 pm. The Perseids are also coming to the Hoher List Observatory in the Volcanic Eifel, also with lectures and the opportunity to look through a telescope.
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The Dieterskirchen Observatory in the Upper Palatinate will be open to interested parties from 9 p.m. on Saturday, while the Bochum Observatory will start half an hour later with "Schnuppen-Gucken", initially with an introductory lecture. On Friday, August 16, the Bochum Observatory is offering another night of the Perseids.
The Astronomischer Arbeitskreis Kassel is organizing a star tour on the Dörnberg on Saturday at 22:30. The event organized by the Zollern-Alb Observatory in Baden-Württemberg on Sunday at 20:30 with the presentation "Messengers from space" is sold out and will be repeated at 21:45.
Monday
For the highlight of the Perseid stream next Monday, the Allgäu public observatory in Ottobeuren invites you to the Perseid Night at 19:30. The night of the Perseids at the Peterberg Observatory in Saarland is scheduled from 20:00 to 23:55. The Perseids observation on the grounds of the Kreuznach observatory in Rhineland-Palatinate also begins at 8 pm.
From 9 p.m. on Monday, the Rodewisch Observatory in the Vogtland district of Saxony will be offering the opportunity to watch shooting stars with expert guidance. According to the observatory's website, the waxing moon will set at around 11 p.m. on August 12 and will be low in the southwestern sky beforehand, so that it will hardly interfere with observations.
The Tübingen Astronomical Association is offering a Perseid walk to Waldhäuser Hof. The meeting point is at 21:15 on Monday at the observatory or directly at Waldhäuser Hof at 21:30.
(anw)
