Make a wish! This night you will spot about 110 shooting stars per hour in The Hague

Good news for people who still want to make a wish: in the night from Monday 13 December to Tuesday 14 December, about 100 to 120 stars will fall from the sky!

Ad is loading…

–

The maximum of the Geminids meteor shower will take place on the night of Monday 13 to Tuesday 14 December. This is the second largest annual meteor shower in the starry sky. The peak time to spot (many) shooting stars is from 4:00 am.

Meteors

According to hemel.waarnemen.com the number of meteors during the night increases from about 25-40 per hour around midnight (when the Moon is still disturbing; look east) to 100-120 per hour around 4 o’clock (to the southwest).

No special equipment is needed to see the meteors; the naked eye, a clear sky and warm clothes are enough.

Where in The Hague should you look?

Good places to look are, of course, dark places. And yes, that is quite difficult in The Hague. Yet there is a super good stargazing spot, namely: the beach.

Another tip: let your eyes get used to the dark for 15 minutes, then you will see more. You should therefore not look at your smartphone in between.

Ad is loading…

–

Falling stars

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 ends up in the Earth’s atmosphere about 100 kilometers above our heads. Due to the high velocities, the air in front of such a grit is compressed, heated and made to glow, which we see as a flash. The speeds of the Perseids are usually over 200,000 km/h. The Perseids are characterized by their brightness and speed, and occasional afterglow.

Source: hemel.waarnemen.com

–