Over the next two weeks, people across Switzerland will be given a chance to catch a glimpse of two spectacular meteor showers, with the Taurids and the Leonids set to peak in the night sky in mid-November. Here’s how to watch the stunning natural phenomena from Swiss cities and cantons.
First, the Northern Taurids (or Taurid) meteor shower is set to peak in the skies above Switzerland on November 12, 2024. The Taurid shower is caused by the debris left in the wake of Encke’s Comet, which travels around the earth every autumn.
The shower itself is quite slow-moving and very bright, meaning stargazers have more of a chance of seeing the meteors as they cross the night sky. While present in the night sky from November 1 to 15, the best time to see them is at their peak around midnight on November 12. Up to five meteors are expected each hour, with most emerging near the right-hand prong of the Taurus constellation.
If five meteors an hour is not enough, you are in luck as the next meteor shower set to arrive in Switzerland, the Leonids, promises to be even more spectacular when it peaks at 6am on November 18. This meteor shower is associated with Comet 55P, also known as the Tempel-Tuttle, and gets its name from the Leo constellation.
Up to 15 meteors an hour, visible to the naked eye, are expected to cross the night sky between sunset on November 17 and sunrise on November 18 - the best conditions should be late at night on November 17. In terms of where to look, the shooting stars are expected to radiate from between Algieba and Raselas in the constellation of Leo.
On the nights, be sure to try and find a place with as little natural and human-made light pollution as possible such as outside cities and on hills, clearings in woodland, and for those who are very lucky, on top of mountains. During both peaks, the moon will be in its "waxing gibbous" phase, meaning it will be quite bright in the night sky.
Be sure to give your eyes ample time to adjust to the low light conditions, and let's hope the weather in Switzerland doesn't interrupt two of the most spectacular meteor showers our solar system has to offer.