The Perseids return annually in mid-August. The climax this year is reached on August 12–13, i.e. the night between Saturday and Sunday, but the shooting star can also be seen on Sunday evening. Anyone who wants to take part in the spectacle should head out into a dark area where general lighting does not interfere. – You can see the shooting star with the naked eye, you don’t need binoculars. However, a little patience is needed. So you place yourself in a comfortable recliner, preferably under a blanket, and watch the starry sky. Sooner or later you see the light trails that originate from the dust that the Earth’s atmosphere collides with, says Peter Linde, docent in astronomy at Lund University and chairman of both the Swedish Astronomical Society and the Tycho Brahe Astronomical Society. Burning up Because even if the phenomenon is called a shooting star, it is dust – meteoroids – that light up the night sky. When the particles, no larger than grains of sand, fall into the earth’s atmosphere at very high speed, friction occurs so that the particles burn up. This is seen as trails of light in the sky, i.e. shooting stars or meteors. – This takes place at high altitude, at least 50 kilometers up in the atmosphere, says Peter Linde. The intensity of shooting stars varies, but the Perseids in particular tend to be stable, he continues. – If you’re lucky and have a dark starry sky, you can see one per minute, but five to six per hour is more realistic. Cheers and applause Those who get to see a shooting star usually feel rewarded. This is noticeable when the Tycho Brahe observatory in southeast Malmö invites you to an open house to watch the Perseids. – When the shooting star comes, the audience cheers, and there is applause. It’s simply awesome, says Peter Linde. He notes that it’s a new moon, so the moonlight won’t interfere with this weekend’s shooting stars. He’s also keeping his fingers crossed that it won’t be too cloudy. – It doesn’t have to be completely clear, if there are gaps in the clouds, you can perceive the light trails.
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