By Toutatis! A shower of shooting stars is about to sweep across the summer sky, promising to turn our nights into a genuine cosmic show. This is not a mirage or a Nolan trailer: since mid-July and until mid-August, the Perseids brighten the sky, with a peak intensity expected on the night of August 12 to 13. We're talking about 100 shooting stars per hour. Yes, 100! That's enough to fill your wish quota for the next ten years.
Behind this breathtaking spectacle, is the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, the official fireworks technician of our galaxy. Every summer, Earth crosses its cosmic path, and its dust burns up in the atmosphere, creating those luminous trails we love to watch while lying in the grass, with our necks twisted and our eyes wide open.
The darker, the better
But be careful, to enjoy the show, you’ll need to be a little clever. Forget about balconies in the city or rooftops.
with stars éclairés : light pollution is public enemy number one for the Perseids. Instead, why not take a nighttime trip out of the city, towards the peaks or into the heart of the countryside? The darker, the better.And for the purists, the ideal time to watch is between midnight and 4 AM, when the Milky Way puts on its most stunning strobe effect. A blanket, a good playlist (and why not a thermos of hot chocolate), and you’re all set for a magical night of watching the sky tell you stories about stars.