Good news for Zoetermeer residents who still want to make a wish: in the night of 12 to 13 August 2022, about twenty shooting stars will appear in the sky in Zoetermeer per hour..
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These shooting stars come from the so-called Perseid rain. That’s a swarm of meteors made up of leftover debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Because the earth in its orbit around the sun moves through the debris cloud, we see this meteor shower around the same date every year. “Compared to other years, the number of visible meteors from the Perseids is low,” says Jaco van Wezel, meteorologist at weeronline.nl.
Fewer shooting stars in Zoetermeer
“Under favorable conditions, the Perseids can produce about 85 shooting stars per hour during the peak night. The fact that there are fewer this year is mainly due to the full moon. Because of the disturbing light from the moon, only the brightest shooting stars can be seen,” explains Jaco. The real peak time is on Saturday at 8:00 am, when it is already light. “Nor is the Perseid meteor shower perpendicular to our heads. When that is the case, they are the most visible,” says Jaco.
What is a shooting star?
Shooting stars are flashes of light that occasionally appear in the starry sky. However, the flashes have nothing to do with stars. They are caused by space debris, often no larger than a grain of sand. That debris ends up in the Earth’s atmosphere about 100 kilometers above our heads. Due to the high velocities, the air at the front of such a grit particle is compressed, heated and made to glow. We see that as a flash. The speeds of the Perseids are usually over 200,000 km/h. The Perseids are characterized by their clarity and speed. Sometimes you can also see a plume of light behind the shooting star.
Source: sky.observation.com
When is the best time to see shooting stars?
Do you want to make a wish? Then it’s best to gaze at the sky on August 13 around 4.45 in the morning. There are then about twenty stars per hour. You can see the meteor shower best in a dark place, so put your clothes down at the Noord Aa plas, the Buytenpark or the Bentwoud. What are you going to wish for?