Astronomy Shooting stars from the Leonid stream in the Swiss night sky

Stargazers have the chance to spot shooting stars in the night sky these days. From November 13 to 30, the meteors of the Leonids will light up quickly but comparatively rarely in the darkness.

The maximum activity is expected on the night of November 17-18, Marc Eichenberger, President of the Swiss Astronomical Society, told the Keystone-SDA news agency on request. However, as the moon is almost full two days before the maximum and therefore still lights up the sky all night, it may be difficult to spot the rather faint meteors.

It is generally advisable to look out for the meteors above the fog line or wherever the sky is clear and dark, Eichenberger continues. According to the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss, there will only be clear skies in Valais and on the southern side of the Alps in the coming days. At the end of the week, fog is likely to prevail in the lowlands and Central Plateau.

Earth flies through comet trail

The shooting stars are in fact the trail of comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttel, which passes through the Earth once a year. The comet was discovered in 1865 and takes around 33 years to orbit the sun. The Leonids are very fast meteors with penetration speeds of around 70 kilometers per second, or 252,000 kilometers per hour.

SDA